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AUTHOR: 


SHEARWOOD,  JOSEPH 
ALEXANDER,  1844- 


TITLE: 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


PLACE: 


LONDON 


DA  TE : 


1918 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


Master  Negative  # 


947 
Sh3 


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Restrictions  on  Use: 


Shearwood,  Joseph  Alexander,  1844- 

Russia's  story;  being  a  short  popular  history  of  Russia 
from  the  earliest  times,  and  sketching  the  part  Russia  has 
taken  as  yet  in  the  great  war,  together  with  an  account  of 
the  revolution,  by  J.  A.  Shearwood  ...  New  and  rev.  ed. 
London,  Jarrolds  limited,  1918. 

XV  a. 

xxvfiit  228  p.  incl.  geneal.  tables,    front.,  ports,    19^*^". 


1.  Russia — Hist. 


( 


Library  of  Congress 


'J 


18-17362 


DK41.S6    1918 


TECHNICAL  MICROFORM  DATA 


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RUSSIA'S   STORY 


PkTI  K     iHK    (iRKAl 

Reiencil    lt>82    1725 


I-  >o)itisJ>ii\t' 


RUSSIA'S    STORY 

BEING    A    SHORT    POPULAR 

HISTORY  OF   RUSSIA 
FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES 


AND  SKETCHING  THE  PART  RUSSIA  HAS  TAKEN 
AS  YET  IN  THE  GREAT  WAR 

TOGETHER    WITH 

AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


BY 


J.   A.   SHEARWOOD,    B.A. 

AUTHOR  OF    "REAL  PROPERTY   ABRIDGMENT," 
*' OUTLINE   OF  CONTRACT,"   ETC.    ETC. 


NEW  AND  REVISED  EDITION 


JARROLDS 

PUBLISHERS    (LONDON) 

LIMITED 

1918 


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S4i  3 


CONTENTS 

Genealogical  Table 

Chronological  Table 

Preface   

Authorities  for  Russian  History 
Dissertation  on  former  hostile  feeling  between 
England  and  Russia 

PART  I 
Origin 

Derivation  of  "  Russian  " 
Serfdom 

Oleg  .... 
Igor  .... 
Svatoslaf  . 
Vladimir  the  Great  . 
Sviatopolk  the  Miserable 
Jaroslav  the  Wise  . 
iziaslav 

Vladimir  Monomachus 
Appanages 
Mongol  Invasion 
Golden  Horde    . 
Ivan  I  ("the  Purse") 
Ivan  II  (Prince  of  all  the  Russias) 
Tartar  Defeat  . 
Vassilv  I    . 
Vassily  II  (the  Blind) 
Ivan  the  Great 
Last  Tartar  Invasion 
Vassily  III 

Ivan  IV  (the  Terrible) 
Feodor  I     . 
Boris  Godunof   . 


PAGK 

vu 
xi 

« •  • 

xm 
x\ii 

xix 


I 

3 

4 
6 

7 

9 

12 

13 

15 

17 
i8 

19 

23 

26 
27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

34 
37 
38 
47 
49 


VI 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


PART  II 


Period  of  Troubles 

Feodor  II  •         • 

House  of  Romanoff  (Michael) 

The  Cossacks 

Feodor  III 

Peter  I  (the  Great)  . 

Battle  of  Pultova     . 

Catherine  I 

Peter  II      . 

Anne  .         •         •         • 

Elizabeth   . 

Catherine  II  (the  Great) 

Partition  of  Poland 

Paul  .         •         •         • 
Alexander  I 
Nicholas  I 
Polish  Rebellion 
Crimean  War 
Alexander  II 
Alexander  III    • 
Nicholas  II 
War  with  Japan 
Balkan  Wars 
The  Great  War 


PART  III 


The  Revolution 
Addendum  . 


PAGK 
51 
51 
52 
56 
60 

63 
80 

89 
90 

91 

93 

96 

99 
106 

115 

127 

130 

135 
137 
147 
152 
153 
165 

168 


198 
215 


^ 


*) 


^ 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLE 

THE  HOUSE  OF  RURIK 

Rurik,  862-879- 

i 
Oleg,  879-912. 

Igor,  912-945- 


sons. 


Sviatolaf,  957-972. 
I  


1 


Vladimir  I  (990-101 5  -       Yaropo  k  (Kief),        Oleg  (Devaaus), 

(1st  Christian  Killed  by  Killed  by 

sovereign).  Vladimir.  Yaropolk. 


had 


Sviatopolk  (Kief), 
the  Miserable. 


six  sons. 


r 


Varoslav    Iziaslav      Boris        Gleb        Sviatolav     Vscvolod 
(the  Wise),  (Polotsk).  (Rostof)-  (Morom).  (Devilaus).  (\olhynia). 
1019-1054. 
had    six  sons 

The  Period  of  the  Appanages  (1054-1238). 


Iziaslav, 
1054-1078. 

Sviatopolk, 
1092-1 1 13 


Ysevolod  (Kief), 
1078-1092. 


and  four  others  sons,  who 
all  fought  one  another. 


Vladimir  Monomachus 
(Kief),  1113-1125. 

The  Mongol  Invasion,  11 24. 

George  Dolgorouski,  II57-H59- 

vu 


Vlll 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


GENEALOGICAL   TABLE 


IX 


Yuri,  half 
wittcd. 


Vsevolod,  1 176-1212. 

Yaroslav  Vsevolodvitch,  1236- 1246. 

Alexander  Nezsky,  1352-1263. 

I 
Daniel,  1 263-1 303. 

I 
Ivan  I  (Kalita),  1 328-1 341. 

I 
Simeon  the  Proud,  1341-1353. 

I 
Ivan  II,  1353-1359- 

Dimitri  Donskoi,  1362-1389. 

I 
Vasili  I,  1389-1425. 

Vasili  II  (Basil  the  Blind),  1425- 1463. 

Ivan  III,  1462-1505. 

Vasili  III,  1505-1533- 

Ivan  IV,  1533-1584- 

Fcodor,*  1 584-1 598.     Dmitri  or  Demetrius 
m.  Irene  Godunov,  died  1591. 

Boris'  sister. 

Boris,  1 598- 1 605. 

Feodor,  murdered. 

False  Dmitri.    Marina,  his  bride, 

crowned  and  imprisoned. 
Basil  Shuiski,  elected  by  Boyars. 
New  False  Dmitri. 
Marina  claims  him  as  her  husband. 
Never  elected.     Murdered  1610. 
Ladislaus,  Pole,  seizes  the  throne 
for  two  years. 

*  House  of  Kurik  died  with  him. 


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CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  THE 
RULERS  OF  RUSSIA 


Rurik,  862. 

Oleg,  879. 

Igor,  912. 

Svatoslaf,  957- 

Vladimir  the  Great,  990. 

Svialopolk  (the  Miserable),  1015. 

Jaroslav  (the  Wise),  1054. 

Vladimir  Monomachus,  iii3- 

Internal    dissensions.      The    Mongol    Invasion. 

Khan,  1224. 

Yury  or  George. 

Jaroslav. 

Ivan  I. 

Simeon  the  Proud,  1340- 

Ivan  II,  1353- 
Demetrius  Donskoi,  1359. 

Basil  I,  1389- 

Basil  II  (the  Blind),  1425- 

Ivan  III  (the  Great),  1462. 

Vassili,  1505- 

Ivan  IV  (the  Terrible),  I533- 

Feodor  I,  1584. 

Boris  Godefroi,  1598. 

Feodor  II,  the  False  Demetrius,  1605. 


THE   HOUSE  OF   ROMANOFF 

Michael,  1613. 
Alexis,  1645. 
Feodor  III,  1676. 

SI 


Genghis 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  THE 
RULERS  OF  RUSSIA 


Rurik,  862. 
Oleg,  879. 
Igor,  912. 
Svatoslaf,  957- 
Vladimir  the  Great,  990. 
Sviatopolk  (the  Miserable),  1015. 
Jaroslav  (the  Wise),  1054. 
Vladimir  Monomachus,  iii3- 
Internal    dissensions.      The    Mongol    Invasion. 
Khan,  1224. 

Yury  or  George. 

Jaroslav. 

Ivan  I. 

Simeon  the  Proud,  1340- 

Ivan  II,  1353- 
Demetrius  Donskoi,  1359. 

Basil  I,  1389. 

Basil  II  (the  Blind),  1425- 

Ivan  III  (the  Great),  1462. 

Vassili,  1505. 

Ivan  IV  (the  Terrible),  1533- 

Feodor  I,  1584. 

Boris  Godefroi,  1 598. 

Feodor  II,  the  False  Demetrius,  1605. 


THE   HOUSE  OF   ROMANOFF 


Michael,  1613. 
Alexis,  1645. 
Feodor  III,  1676. 


n 


Xll 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


Ivan  V,  jointly  with  Peter,  1682,  Sophia,  Peter's  sister,  con- 
triving to  have  herself  nominated  joint  sovereign  with  them. 
Peter  I  (the  Great),  1682. 
Catherine  I,  1725. 
Peter  II,  1727. 
Anne,  1730. 
Ivan  VI,  1740. 
Elizabeth,  1741. 
Peter  III,  1761. 
Catherine  II  (the  Great),  1762. 
Paul,  1796. 
Alexander  I,  1801. 
Nicholas  I,  182$. 
Alexander  II,  1855. 
Alexander  III,  188 1. 
Nicholas  II,  1894. 

Note, — In  the  early  and  disturbed  times  some  of  the  rulers 
mentioned  were  only  sovereigns  of  particular  towns  or  dis- 
tricts. For  instance,  Yury  was  Grand  Duke  of  Suzdal.  It 
was  Ivan  II  who  first  styled  himself  Prince  of  all  the  Russias 
(see  p.  28). 


PREFACE  TO  THE  NEW  EDITION 


This  edition  brings  Russian  history  down  to  date.  The 
early  portion  of  the  v^rork  has  been  but  little  altered  from 
the  former  edition.  The  Japanese  war  and  other  events 
of  importance  have  been  added,  but  there  has  been  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  dealing  accurately  with  Russia's 
share  of  the  incidents  of  the  present  campaign  and  the 
great  revolution  which  the  war  has  brought  about.  In- 
formation to  hand  cannot  be  said  to  be  reliable,  is  fre- 
quently contradictory,  and  it  is  only  the  main  features 
which  can  be  stated  with  confidence.  For  instance,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  this  world-struggle  began  by  Germany's 
declaration  of  war  against  the  Czar,  nor  that  the  Russian 
armies,  when  not  interfered  with  by  treachery  at  home 
and  when  properly  supplied  with  munitions  and  other 
necessaries,  fought  admirably,  captured  thousands  and 
thousands  of  prisoners,  and  also  suffered  immense  losses 
themselves;  and  if  those  in  power  had  the  interests  of 
their  country  at  heart,  the  disasters  of  191 5  and  subse- 
quently would  never  have  occurred.  Some  of  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  Revolution  are  still  shrouded  in  mystery  ; 
but  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  was  a  people's  revolution, 
much  resembling  in  that  respect  the  French  Revolution 
of  more  than  a  century  ago ;  that  the  starvation  of  the 
masses,  the  weakness  of  the  Czar,  the  treachery  of  many 
in  power,  the  enormous  influence  of  the  infamous  monk 
Rasputin,  until  his  assassination  the  virtual  ruler  of 
Russia,  were  the  main  factors  which  developed  it,  and  the 
conclusion  at  which  we  at  first  arrived  was  that  the 
country  had  made  a  stride  of  a  hundred  years  in  the  course 
of  a  few  weeks.  But  she  is  not  out  of  the  wood  yet ;  the 
nation  is  new  to  power  and  has  not  jret  grasped  how  to 


xui 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


XIV 

handle  it     In  the  immense  empire  there  are  many  factions 
^d  many  traitors,  and  it  will  require  almost  superhnmao 
exertions  on  the  part  of  true  Patnots  whom  ^e  PraV  tn 
near  future  may  produce,  to  gu.de  the  sh.p  of  state  arignt 
through  the  sea  of  troubles  loommg  ahead. 

The   reveUtions   which   have   come   to   us  about   ine 
influent  of  Rasputin  has  startled  the  Western  world   and 
thrrs  more  tha'n  grave  doubts  upon  the  smcenty  of  the 
czarina  and  even  of  the  Czar  himself  (-^o  isjeport^    o 
have  said    when  he  heard  of  his  death,  that  he  woum 
^ver  Russia  with  scafiolds)  to  the  allied  cause;    these 
Xw  the  uuer  disregard  of  the  classes  to  the  suflenngs  ^d 
lives  of  the  masses,  though  indeed  the  history  of  the 
countrv  from  its  earliest  times  has  afforded  abundant 
uSion  of  this.     The  bulk  of  the  populat-  o^^^^^^^ 
widely  extended  Empire  has  long  existed  m  the  night  ot 
TgnorLce.  being  utterly  at  the  mercy  "^  ^  ~"^f  Jr„*i 
a  few  designing  plotters  and  intriguers  and  a  ^uler  without 
understanding  of  or  sympathy  towards  h'l^="t,^/t=-    f„^ 
revolution  has.  it  is  to  be  hoped,  rernoved  ttos  state  of 
things  for  ever  ;  but  it  came  too  quickly  for  the  masses  to 
Se  either  the  value  of  their  freedom  or  their  newly 
acquired   power ;     this   realization   must   be   of    gradua 
g^wth  •  and  in  the  meantime  there  is  the  danger  of  artful 
Td  unprincipled  men  and    Gennan  agents  'ead.ng  the 
^mple  ^pulation  into  the  pitfalls  of  anarchy  and    urther 
ttoubler  Her  present  situation  is  a  truly  deplorable  one, 
a,^  i   the  faction  who  have  just  now  the  upper  hand  are 
^^  displaced  by  the  nation,  she  will  incur  the  disgust  and 
contempt   of   the   whole   civilized   worid.      England   and 
mnc's  ill  desire  to  be  friendly,  believing  that  the  Russian 
masses  are  too  ignorant  and  ""tutored  to  assert  themseWe 
for  be  it  remembered  that  the  population  of  the  Russias  is 
some   185   millions,   of   whom   85   millions  are  peasants. 
;o  per  cent  of  whom  can  neither  read  nor  wute  and  had  no 
opportunity  of  thinking  lor  themselves  before  the  Revolu^ 
tfon     Therefore  we  stiU  preserve  a.  hope  that  the  leader, 
of  a  right-thinking  party  may  spring  up,  have  the  counten- 
ance 0I  the  nation,  awaken  it  from  its  torpor  and  present 


PREFACE  TO  NEW  EDITION    xv 

degraded  condition,  and  remain  true  to  the  compact 
solemnly  entered  into  with  the  Allies  against  a  separate 
peace.  At  present  no  ray  of  hope  is  discernible,  and  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  Russia,  even  if  she  recovers,  cannot  be 
of  any  further  service  in  the  present  war.  The  injury 
already  done  by  the  Bolsheviks  is  too  deep.  Some  million 
and  a  quarter  prisoners  of  war  are  to  be  released.  The 
Russian  armies  are  disorganized  and  deserting  in  large 
masses,  and  her  solidarity  as  a  fighting  force  is  destroyed. 

It  is  pitiable  that  this  work  should  be  concluded  with 
such  a  gloomy  prospect  before  the  country  to  which  it 
relates,  but  let  us  hope  that,  assuming  the  pubhc  take 
as  kindly  to  this  edition  as  they  did  to  the  former  one,  our 
next  impression  may  narrate  a  situation  totally  changed, 
and  describe  the  huge  country  as  having  taken  an  honour- 
able position  again  amongst  the  Great  Powers  of  the  world 
and  recovering  prosperity  under  some  form  of  Consti- 
tutional Government  which  possesses  the  confidence  of  her 

people. 

^  THE  AUTHOR. 

January,  1918. 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PbTBR  THl  Great Frontisfiect 

Facini  pa£t 

Ivan  IV  (thr  Terrible) 3^ 

Czar  Michael 5* 

Ivan  VI 92 

Peter  III 94 

Catherine  II  (the  Great) 9^ 

Paul  I >o6 

Alexander  II 138 


I 


PART  I 


ORIGIN 


Great  uncertainty  appears  to  prevail  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  various  tribes  which  compose 
the  extensive  empire  of  Russia.  The  major 
part  are  probably  of  Slavonic  extraction, 
a  race  who,  according  to  Malte-Brien  and 
Gattarer,  made  their  appearance  in  Europe 
before  even  the  foundation  of  Rome.  Most 
antiquarians  derive  the  name  Slavonic  from 
'*  Slava "  (glory),  while  some  assert  it  is 
from  **  Slova  '*  (speech).  An  historian  of 
the  sixth  century  describes  these  tribes  as 
tall,  with  light  hair  and  sallow  complexions. 
This  is  probable,  as  fairness  is  still  a  char- 
acteristic of  the  Russians.  They  were  a 
nomadic  people,  hardy,  and  devoted  to  war, 
and  spread  over  Europe  and  Asia  with  great 
rapidity.  Their  religion  was  a  pagan  worship 
and  tinged  with  cruel  superstitions.    Like  the 


B 


2  RUSSIA'S  STORY 

Druids  they  indulged  iix  human  sacrifices, 
and    women    were    generally    the    victims. 
Widows  were  also  consumed  at  the  funeral 
pile   and  sometimes  female  slaves— the  idea 
being  that,  as  their  lords  would  need  attend- 
ance in  the  next  world,  the  sooner  they  joined 
them  the  better.    Their  habits  were  singularly 
dirty  •  they  were  said  to  undergo  ablutions 
three 'times  in  their  Uves— at  birth,  bridal, 
and  death.    Their  principal  redeeming  quali- 
ties appear  to  have  been  frugality  and  hospi- 
tality, the  last  of  which  was  carried  to  such 
an  extent  that  a  poor  man  would  steal  from 
a  rich  if  unable  to  supply  his  guest  himself. 
Though  brave  and  fearless,  they  were  indolent 
and  willing  cheerfully  to  acknowledge  supe- 
riority, and  in  the  fourth  century  were  easily 
overthrown  by  the  Ostrogoths,  who,  in  their 
turn,   were   subdued   by   the   Huns.     They 
appear  to  have  first  served,  then  mingled 
with,  and  ultimately  to  have  absorbed  their 
conquerors,    as    the    Saxons    absorbed    the 
Normans  in  our  own  country ;  for  afterwards 
we  find  them  in  Dacia,  whence  they  made 
predatory  incursions  against  and  finally  were 
instrumental  in  accomplishing  the  downfall 
of  the  Western  Empire.   When  the  Bulgarians 
settled  in  Dacia  they  were  driven  out,  and 
taking  a  north-easterly  direction  they  made 


„ 


TERM  -RUSSIAN"— DERIVATION    3 

their  permanent  abode  in  the  territories  which 
comprise  the  most  important  portion  of  the 
present  Russian  Empire. 

RURIK  (862-879) 
DERIVATION   OF  THE  TERM   RUSSIAN 

It  was  some  time  in  the  ninth  century  that 
the  name  Russian  first  became  known.     Its 
origin  is  uncertain.     One  account  is  that  it 
comes    from    a    Varingian   chief,    Rurik    or 
Roderick,  a  Viking  from  Denmark,  who  with 
his  brothers,  Sinens,  and  Truvor,  also  Vikings, 
laid  a  contribution  on  the  native  tribes  and 
then  took  their  residence  at  Novgorod,  which 
was    originally   the    centre    of    a    Slavonic 
federation  and  formed  an  important  com- 
mercial link  between  the  East  and  West.    It 
is  said  that  Gostomysl,  its  ruler,  feehng  that 
his  end  was  near  and  that  his  people  were 
threatened  with  domestic  perils,  sent  envoys 
to  the  Varingian  tribe  of  Rus  and  invited 
them  to  come  over.    But  Rurik  was  practi- 
cally an  invader.     Anyhow,  he  established  a 
dynasty  which  lasted  some  seven  hundred 

years. 

Dr.  Lardner,  in  his  history  of  Russia, 
thinks  it  probable  that  the  propitious  god- 
desses of  the  Slavi,  beautiful  water  nymphs 


!» 


4  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

called  Russalki,  had  something  to  do  with 
the  name  ;  they,  he  says,  were  always  repre- 
sented in  picturesque  half  costume  and  in 
the  most  poetic  attitudes;  therefore  the 
Slavi  might  have  given  the  name  of  their 
favourites  to  the  country.  The  other  versions 
are  that  of  Lacombe,  who  thinks  the  name 
came  from  a  prince  called  Russus,  and  Malte- 
Brian,  who  would  attribute  it  to  Rhoxham, 
an  early  Gothic  tribe. 

The  territory  possessed  by  Rurik  was 
extensive  although  the  inhabitants  were  few, 
especially  the  Slavonians.  The  feudal  system 
of  Russia  is  said  to  have  commenced  with 
him  ;  but  as  the  Slavi,  when  on  the  banks 
of  the  Danube,  must  have  been  famiharized 
with  the  quasi-mihtary  tenures  on  which  the 
frontier  fortresses  of  the  Empire  were  held, 
and  which  Sir  Henry  Maine  (probably  the 
best  authority  of  the  day  on  the  subject), 
considers  to  be  the  true  origin  of  the  feudal 
system,  it  is  much  more  likely  that  they 
were  acquainted  with  it  long  before. 

SERFDOM 

However,  Rurik,  unable  personally  to  super- 
intend his  dominions,  appointed  Governors, 
giving    them    estates    (interests    somewhat 


SERFDOM  5 

analogous  to  our  entailed  estates)  in  their 
offices,  determinable  on  breach  of  their 
oath  of  allegiance,  or  of  other  military  ser- 
vices. These  Governors  in  their  turn  sub-let 
to  the  Serfs  on  terms  similar  to  what  they 
themselves  held,  though  perhaps  the  con- 
ditions were  more  of  an  agricultural  nature, 
but  in  course  of  time  the  compact  was  for- 
gotten— ^the  strong  prevailed  over  the  weak — 
and  the  condition  of  the  vassal  became  one 
of  abject  slavery.  In  fact,  there  is  little 
reason  to  doubt  that  Russian  Serfdom  was 
similar  to  our  villainage,  but  it  lasted  much 
longer,  owing  to  her  slow  progress  in  civihza- 
tion  from  local  and  other  circumstances. 

Ascold  and  Dir,  two  other  Viking  adven- 
turers, founded  Kief,  made  an  expedition 
down  the  Dnieper  and  attacked  Constanti- 
nople (then  Byzantium).  The  Emperor 
Michael  was  absent  fighting.  The  alarm 
into  which  the  people  were  thrown  by  the 
appearance  of  these  adventurous  foes,  whose 
name  they  had  scarcely  heard  before,  was 
excessive,  but  a  great  storm  arose,  which 
destroyed  their  fleet,  and  saved  the  town. 
Terrified  at  this  disaster,  the  Russians  desired 
to  learn  the  faith  of  the  God  who  protected 
the  beautiful  city.  So  runs  the  story.  How- 
ever,  this   much  is  certain,    Ascold   added 


I 


6  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

Kief  to  Rurik's  dominions,  penetrated  to  the 
Black  Sea,  and  brought  back  the  seeds  of 
Christianity.  Rurik  also  annexed  the  settle- 
ments of  his  brothers. 


OLEG  (879-912) 

Rurik,  when  dying,  chose  a  relative,  Oleg 
(a  Scandinavian),  to  be  guardian  to  his  infant 
son  Igor.  Oleg,  a  man  of  little  scruple  and 
great  enterprise,  resolved  still  further  to 
consolidate  the  conquests.  Kief  was  in  the 
suzerainty  of  Ascold,  who  had  made  it ;  Oleg, 
with  his  retainers,  disguised  as  merchants, 
journeyed  by  there,  begging  an  interview  with 
the  Governor,  who  readily  granted  it.  They 
then  surrounded  and  stabbed  him,  and  Oleg, 
gazing  en  the  town,  and  struck  with  its 
beauty,  cried  :  **  Let  Kief  be  the  mother  of  all 
Russian  cities.''  He  made  it  his  residence, 
enlarged  and  beautified  it.  A  second  expedi- 
tion against  Constantinople  was  undertaken 
by  this  Prince  ;  eighty  thousand  men  em- 
barked in  two  thousand  vessels,  and  besieged 
the  city.  Leo,  the  philosopher,  the  then 
Greek  Emperor,  ordered  a  chain  of  iron  to  be 
slung  across  the  harbour,  thus  preventing  the 
approach  of  the  barbarians.  Oleg,  fertile  in 
expedient,  drew  his  vessels  on  shore,  fixed 


OLEG— IGOR  7 

wheels  under  their  keels,  and  thus  by  aid  of 
their  sails  and  a  slight  pushing,  advanced  his 
armament  to  the  very  gates  :  aghast  at  the 
appearance  of  a  fleet  saihng  over  the  land, 
and  at  the  rumours  of  the  barbarities  practised 
by  the  Russians  on  their  enemies,  the  faUing 
Eastern  Empire  was  frightened  into  a  dis- 
graceful truce.  Oleg  did  not  long  survive  his 
triumph.  The  legend  says  he  had  a  favourite 
horse,  and  on  its  being  foretold  to  him  that 
this  horse  would  be  the  cause  of  his  death  he 
ceased  riding  it.  Afterwards,  remembering 
its  existence  and  inquiring  for  it,  he  was  in- 
formed that  it  was  just  dead.  Curious  to  see 
its  body  and  believing  all  cause  for  alarm  over, 
he  paid  a  visit  to  its  remains  and  put  his  foot 
on  its  skull ;  then  a  mighty  serpent  started 
out  and  stung  him.    He  died  of  the  wound. 

IGOR  (912-945) 

Igor,  the  rightful  heir,  succeeded.  He 
undertook  another  expedition  to  Constan- 
tinople and  exacted  another  tribute.  But  his 
army  was  destroyed  by  a  combustible  inven- 
tion, now  lost,  denominated  Greek  fire. 
Water,  instead  of  extinguishing  it,  is  said  to 
have  imparted  to  it  fresh  vigour.  In  the 
account  given  of  the  defeat  by  the  chronicler, 


s 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


the  Slavs  are  represented  to  say,  "  The  Greeks 
have  a  fire  like  lightning,  and  that  is  why  they 
have  conquered  us."  In  truth,  they  guarded 
the  secret  of  its  manufacture  with  great 
caution. 

Igor,  on  his  return.  Was  slain  by  his  own 
subjects.  He  was  an  incompetent  ruler, 
possessing  the  barbarity  of  Oleg  without  his 
genius.  His  reign  is  chiefly  remarkable  for 
the  ingenuity  of  the  cruelties  practised  by  his 
soldiers  on  the  unfortunate  Greeks — cruelties 
so  refined  that,  considering  the  state  of  in- 
tellect at  the  time,  we  may  well  wonder  how 
they  were  thought  of  at  all.  His  widow,  Olga, 
succeeded  as  Regent  to  his  son,  and  avenged 
his  death  by  shutting  up  a  number  of  his 
murderers  in  a  vapour  bath,  where  they  were 
suffocated,  and  destroyed  their  town  by 
fixing  lighted  matches  on  to  the  tails  of 
swallows  and  letting  them  fly  over  the  roofs — 
so  at  least  the  ancient  chronicle  tells  us. 
Olga  was  a  lady  of  great  sense  and  beauty, 
and  her  name  is  still  dear  to  a  Russian.  She 
embraced  Christianity  under  the  name  of 
Helen,  a  religion  which  had  latterly  been 
making  great  progress,  and  was  baptized  at 
Byzantium  in  a.d.  957.  In  fact,  the  Russian 
idea  of  Christianity  came  from  Byzantium. 
In  her  time  (945-957)  there  appears  to  have 


SVATOSLAF  9 

been  peace  between  the  Greek  Empire  and 
her  people. 

SVATOSLAF   (957-972) 

But  Svatoslaf,  her  son,  on  attaining  man's 
estate,  soon  showed  that  he  had  in  him  the 
adventurous  spirit  of  Ascold  and  Oleg.  At 
the  head  of  a  mighty  army  he  entered  Bul- 
garia, impaled  some  twenty  thousand  of  its 
people,  and  was  regaling  his  troops  in  the 
town  of  Perislav  when  he  received  intelligence 
that  Olga,  his  mother,  was  shut  up  in  Kief 
by  a  rebel  Tartar  tribe.  Nestor,  the  historian, 
who  is  as  fond  of  the  marvellous  as  Herodotus 
or  Livy,  tells  us  how  a  young  soldier  of  the 
beleaguered  garrison  eluded  the  enemy,  swam 
the  river,  and  brought  news  of  the  perilous 
condition  of  his  royal  mistress,  how  a  Russian 
general  with  very  inferior  forces  attempted 
the  relief  of  the  town,  and  how,  finally, 
Svatoslaf  returned  and  put  everything  to 
rights. 

But  on  the  death  of  his  mother,  ''  the  day 
star  of  her  country,*'  he  again  commenced 
war  against  the  Greeks,  a  war  which  was 
signalized  by  battles  of  a  far  more  sanguinary 
and  decisive  nature  than  any  that  had 
been  fought  between  the  two  nations  before. 
Under  their  Emperor  Zinistes,  the  Greeks 


lO 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


seem  to  have  infused  into  themselves  some  of 
their  ancient  spirit.  A  fierce  contest  took 
place  at  Perislav,  in  which  the  Russians  must 
have  been  worsted,  as  they  were  afterwards 
besieged  in  the  city.  At  a  truce,  concluded 
somewhere  in  the  Balkans  between  the  two 
monarchs,  the  Russian  agreed  never  to  molest 
the  Greek  Empire  again,  and  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  expedition  under  Jaroslav  in  1043, 
there  was  a  cessation  of  invasions  for  eight 
hundred  years,  the  reason  for  which  may  be 
attributed  rather  to  the  accession  of  strength 
those  provinces  received  after  they  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  Turks,  than  to  any  reverence 
of  the  descendants  of  Svatoslaf  to  the  oath  of 
their  predecessors.  Returning  to  Russia,  the 
king  and  his  army  were  attacked  by  a  hostile 
tribe  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dnieper  and  slain 
to  a  man.  Thus  perished  the  last  of  the 
pagan  kings. 

CHARACTER   OF   SVATOSLAF 

The  name,  meaning  ''holy  glory,"  is 
Slavonic.  Karamsin  calls  him  the  Alexander 
of  Russian  history,  and  considers  his  exploits 
rival  those  of  Homer's  heroes.  But  in  truth 
he  was  a  savage  of  the  grossest  type,  and 
apparently  the  somewhat  common  attribute 
of  personal  bravery  was  his  only  redeeming 


SVATOSLAFS   CHARACTER      n 

point.  During  the  administration  of  Olga, 
his  mother,  the  social  condition  of  the  country 
had  somewhat  improved,  but  he  was  of  too 
debased  a  nature  to  take  an  interest  in  any- 
thing but  the  brute  pleasure  of  fighting,  and 
was,  like  the  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  of  our 
history,  utterly  indifferent  in  regard  to  what 
dangers  the  nation  might  be  exposed  to  at 
home,  so  long  as  he  could  gratify  his  appetite 
abroad.  Indeed,  for  some  time  he  wandered 
about  the  Caucasus  searching  for  an  enemy 
to  fight  with.  He  was  hardy  in  disposition, 
would  be  content  with  the  coarsest  food, 
even  horseflesh — was  agreeable  to  share  the 
toils  of  the  meanest  soldier— cared  for  neither 
tent  nor  baggage,  could  bear  ahke  the  ex- 
tremes of  heat  and  cold,  and  usually  had  no 
pillow  but  his  saddle.  The  Petchenegan  chief 
who  slew  him  made  a  drinking  cup  of  his  skull, 
and  had  the  following  words  inscribed : 
''  In  the  attempt  to  seize  the  property  of 
others  thou  didst  lose  thine  own." 

His  death  terminates  the  rudest  period  of 
Russian  history,  for  under  the  next  reign  a 
marked  improvement  in  civil  and  social 
matters  is  noticeable.  He  divided  his  king- 
dom amongst  his  three  sons,  Yaropolk,  Oleg, 
and  Vladimir,  an  act  which  gave  rise  to  a 
civil  war,  ultimately  terminating  in  favour  of 


12 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Vladimir,  the  younger,  who  appears  to  have 
slain  his  brother  and  added  his  wife  to  his  list 
of  concubines. 

VLADIMIR   THE   GREAT   (980-IOI5) 

The  administration  of  this  prince  was  at 
first  violent,  but  after  his  conversion  to 
Christianity,  which  occurred  in  consequence 
of  his  marriage  with  Anna,  the  daughter  of 
Basil,  Emperor  of  the  East,  it  was  remark- 
able for  its  prudence  and  wisdom.  He  added 
Galicia,  or  Red  Russia,  to  his  dominions,  estab- 
lished schools  throughout  Russia,  encouraged 
the  study  of  the  fine  arts,  which  had  been 
introduced  owing  to  intercourse  with  Con- 
stantinople, and  imbued  the  people  with  a 
taste  for  culture  of  which  they  had  known 
nothing  before.  Because  of  the  changes  he 
made  in  the  condition  of  the  Empire  he  was 
styled  the  Great.  His  method  of  instilling 
the  truths  of  Christianity  into  the  minds  of 
his  people  was  by  convincing  them  of  the 
utter  imbecihty  of  the  heathen  gods.  The 
image  of  Peroun,  the  principal  idol,  was 
fastened  to  a  horse's  tail  and  thrown  into  the 
Dnieper,  and  a  church  built  where  it  had 
stood.  In  his  old  age  his  children  rose  against 
him,  and  while  starting  on  an  expedition  to 
quell  the  rebellion  he  died  suddenly.    In  spite 


\ 


? 


VLADIMIR— SVIATOPOLK        13 

of  the  many  atrocities  committed  during  the 
earlier  years  of  his  reign,  the  people  deeply 
mourned  his  loss  ;  for  the  dead  could  not 
speak  from  the  grave,  and  the  living  had 
forgotten  their  existence— while  the  structures 
his  intellect  had  reared  were  present  before 
their  eyes,  and,  through  him,  they  knew  they 
revelled  in  a  prosperity  which  in  youth  they 
dreamed  not  of.  He  was  enrolled  amongst 
the  saints  of  the  Church,  and  an  order  of 
knighthood  still  exists  which  is  taken  from 
his  name— though  it  dates  only  from  the  time 
of  Catherine.  From  his  time,  Christianity 
may  be  considered  established. 

Vladimir  divided  his  dominions  amongst 
his  sons.  Jaroslav  took  Novgorod  ;  Boris, 
Rostov ;  Iziaslav,  Polotsk ;  Gleb,  Muron ;  and 
Sviatoslav  the  Drevlians. 


SVIATOPOLK  THE  MISERABLE  (1OI5-IOI9) 

But  Sviatopolk,  the  son  of  his  murdered 
brother,  seized  Kief  (1015).  In  any  case  Boris 
was  the  rightful  heir.  The  usurper  sent  a 
friendly  deputation  to  Boris,  professing  to  be 
desirous  of  making  some  agreement  about 
sharing  the  kingdom  ;  but  with  the  deputa- 
tion was  despatched  a  band  of  assassins,  who 
swore  they  would  not  return  without  the 


iriSam 


14 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


young   prince's   head.      They   stabbed   him 
while  engaged  in  evening  prayer,  and  carried 
him  still  living  to  Sviatopolk,  who  completed 
the  murder  himself.    Gleb  was  shortly  after- 
wards assassinated  ;  Iziaslav  fled,  and  Sviato- 
polk fancied  himself  in  secure  possession  of 
the  throne.    But  the  fourth  brother,  Jaroslav, 
Prince  of  the  Novgorod,  who,  possessed  of 
more  energy  than  the  rest,  raised  a  great  army, 
defeated  him  in  battle  and  entered  Kief  in 
triumph.     He  fled  to  the  King  of  Poland, 
Boreslaus   (surnamed    **  the    brave "),    who, 
though  weakened  by  a  long  war  with  Germany, 
was  induced   to  lend  forces  to  re-establish 
him.     Nay,  more,  he  headed  them  himself. 
The  River  Bug  divided  the  hostile  armies. 
The  corpulency  of  the  King  of  Poland  excited 
great    ridicule    amongst    the    enemy.      The 
king's  temper  was  hot,  and,  irritated  at  some 
jeering  remark  wafted  by  the  breeze  across 
the  river,  he  lost  his  self-control  and  rode 
into  the  stream  at  the  foe.    His  soldiers  seizing 
their  arms  of  course  followed.    It  was  an  im- 
prudent   step,    but,    like    many   bold    ones, 
successful.  Jaroslav  was  taken  by  surprise,  his 
troops   were    routed,    and    he    retreated   to 
Novgorod,  while  Sviatopolk  was  reinstated. 


JAROSLAV   THE   WISE 


15 


I 


JAROSLAV   THE   WISE   (1OI9-IO54) 

But  he  did  not  keep  his  place  long  ;  he  was 
unpopular,  and  when  Jaroslav  attacked  him 
again  his  subjects  were  unwilling  to  fight  for 
him.  He  took  refuge  in  Bohemia  and  died 
in  obscurity.  He  was  called  by  some  *'  The 
Accursed,"  and  by  some  ''  The  Miserable." 
His  short  (four  years),  unhappy,  and  cruel 
reign  presents  a  marked  contrast  to  that  of 
Jaroslav,  who  held  the  throne  for  five-and- 
thirty  years  (1019-1054),  and  who  raised  Kief 
to  such  power  and  magnificence  that  it  was 
considered  a  new  Constantinople.  His  soubri- 
quet was  *'  The  Wise."  He  first  gave  a  code  of 
laws,  called  Russkaya  Pravda,  to  the  huge  and 
barbarous  country.  They  were  promulgated 
in  1020,  and  in  many  respects  were  similar  to 
the  Twelve  Tables  at  Rome — and  to  our  laws 
under  the  Saxons — in  fact  to  most  laws  in 
early  communities,  where  the  rudeness  of  the 
manners  of  the  people  compels  criminal 
jurisprudence  to  be  brought  into  great  prom- 
inence in  comparison  with  civil.  In  the  case 
of  murder,  as  in  the  laws  of  Alfred,  the  next- 
of-kin  had  the  election  of  blood  for  blood,  or 
a  pecuniary  composition  varying  in  amount 
according  to  the  station  of  the  slain  man. 
The  wergild  for  the  death  of  a  boyar  was 


i6 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


much  the  same  as  for  that  of  a  thane  in  the 
Saxon  times  in  England,  but  their  degrees  of 
station  were  three— viz.  the  boyars,  the 
middle  class,  and  the  serfs  ;  whereas  we  then 
had  but  two  classes,  thanes  and  ceorls,  unless 
the  lesser  thanes  can  be  considered  as  distinct 
from  the  greater,  an  idea  which  Hallam 
appears  to  negative,  except  in  the  sole  respect 
of  not  having  seats  in  the  Witan  :  for  in 
England  the  middle-class— that  class  so 
mighty  now — that  class  to  which  we  owe  our 
wealth  and  prosperity — was  almost  unknown 
in  the  days  of  our  Saxon  ancestors. 

The  reasons  assigned  in  Jaroslav's  code  for 
a  freeman  becoming  a  serf  bears  a  remarkable 
resemblance  to  those  by  which  a  man  became 
a  slave  by  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  of 
Rome  :  the  debtor,  the  perjurer,  he  who 
marries  a  serf,  he  who  sells  himself,  all  these 
lost  freedom  ;  there  is  but  one  case  missing, 
viz.  that  of  the  prisoner  of  war.  The  ordeals 
of  fire  and  water  are  also  mentioned  as  modes 
of  trial,  but  they  had  to  be  undergone  by  the 
accuser  to  prove  the  truth  of  his  assertions 
if  unable  to  call  witnesses,  and  not  by  the 
defendant  in  order  to  purge  himself,  as  with  us. 

Jaroslav  was  not  as  wise  in  war  as  in  peace. 
For  a  fancied  insult  to  a  Russian  in  Constan- 
tinople, he  carried  armies  and  havoc  amongst 


JAROSLAV— IZIASLAV 


17 


V    . 


the  Greeks.  There  was  a  prophecy  in  the 
capital  in  those  days  that  the  Russian  would 
one  day  rule  at  Constantinople.  People  were 
afraid  that  the  day  had  come.  But  it  had  not, 
for  again  the  terrible  Greek  fire  was  brought 
into  play ;  again  were  the  fleets  of  the 
Russians  destroyed ;  again  were  their  armies 
scattered.  The  day  had  not  come  then  !  The 
expedition  ending  thus  disastrously,  Jaroslav 
had  prudence  enough  not  to  undertake 
another.  The  remainder  of  his  reign  was 
peaceable  ;  under  him,  as  under  Vladimir, 
the  country  made  great  strides  forward,  but 
that  progress  was  only  to  be  lost  by  dissen- 
sions of  his  successors,  for  he  divided  Russia 
amongst  his  six  sons — a  remarkably  im- 
prudent step  for  so  wise  a  prince.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  their  disputes  and  jeal- 
ousies undid  all  that  he  had  done,  and 
probably  have  been  influential  in  retarding 
Russian  civilization. 


IZIASLAV  (I054-IO78) 

Of  his  six  sons,  Iziaslav,  the  eldest,  was  to 
enjoy  a  sort  of  nominal  sovereignty  ;  but  his 
brothers  rose  against  him,  and  the  land  con- 
tinued to  be  a  scene  of  war  and  confusion  for 
years.    Iziaslav  died  in  1078,  leaving  Kief  to 


i8 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


his  brother  Vsevolod,  on  whose  death,  in  1093, 
Sviatopolk,  his  (Iziaslav's)  son,  succeeded, 
and  reigned  till  11 13.  Vsevolod  married  a 
Greek  princess,  daughter  of  Constantine  Mono- 
machus,  and  from  his  Greek  grandfather 
Vladimir  himself  received  the  name  of  Mono- 
machus. 

VLADIMIR   MONOMACHUS,    *'  THE   FIGHTER 
ALONE  '*   (1113-II25) 

was  sent  for  by  the  people  of  Kief  to  be  their 
ruler.  He  wedded  Githa,  the  daughter  of 
Harold,  the  last  of  the  Saxon  kings,  who 
perished  at  the  battle  of  Hastings,  thus  form- 
ing a  link  with  England.  There  was  no  other 
marriage  of  a  Russian  with  an  English 
princess  until  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  married 
Mary,  the  only  daughter  of  the  Czar  Alex- 
ander n.  The  throne  had  been  previously 
offered  to  Vladimir,  but,  with  a  generosity 
unusual  for  the  time  and  country,  he  refused 
to  accept  it,  on  the  ground  that  his  cousin 
Sviatopolk  had  a  prior  claim. 

His  character  resembled  that  of  Jaroslav. 
By  great  tact  he  contrived  to  allay  the  dis- 
sensions between  the  princes  which  had  con- 
tinued for  so  long  and  which  were  bringing 
destruction  and  ruin  upon  the  country.  His 
renown  spread  to  other  lands ;    it  elicited 


} 


' 


VLADIMIR— THE   APPANAGES    19 

from  the  Greek  Emperor  a  costly  present, 
viz.  a  tiara  cross  and  chain  made  of  gold, 
together  with  the  coronation  cloak  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine.  These  are  still  pre- 
served at  Moscow,  which  was  just  then 
springing  into  existence. 

Kief,  the  mother  of  Russian  cities,  began 
to  lose  its  importance  after  this  reign.  In 
1 169  it  was  sacked  in  one  of  the  struggles 
continually  going  on,  and  after  1204  it  became 
merely  a  dependency  of  Sugdal,  and  Russia 
had  no  political  centre. 

After  the  death  of  Vladimir  internal  dis- 
sensions broke  out  afresh.  In  thirty-two 
years  eleven  princes  in  turn  had  secured  the 
sovereignty,  each  holding  it  till  a  stronger 
than  he  came  to  displace  him.  The  wretched 
serfs  could  obtain  no  protection,  their  home- 
steads were  laid  desolate,  their  crops  were 
destroyed,  and  the  country  presented  but 
one  scene  of  rapine  and  pillage,  the  central 
authority  being  reduced  to  almost  nothing. 

THE   APPANAGES   (1054-I238) 

What  is  called  the  period  of  the  Appanages, 
or  minor  principaUties,  really  commenced 
after  the  death  of  Jaroslav  and  lasted  for  two 
centuries.     Its  rise  was  owing  to  the  moral 


20 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


weakness  of  the  princes  and  the  non-existence 
of  primogeniture.  Pagodia  traces  it  to  the 
idea  of  the  right  which  the  princely  families 
conceived  they  had  to  rule  over  the  land 
which  their  fathers  had  won.  During  this 
period  there  were  five  important  princi- 
palities, viz.  (i)  Kief  (declining,  as  stated 
supra),  which  together  with  (2)  Novgorod 
were  the  oldest  cities  ;  (3)  Smolensk  ;  (4) 
Chernigov ;  (5)  Sugdal,  whose  capital  was 
Vladimir,  founded  by  Vladimir  Monomachus. 
One  man  rose  into  notice  during  this 
turbulent  epoch.  He  was  Andrew,  son  of 
Igor,  Prince  of  Suzdal,  a  territory  lying  in 
the  centre  of  Russia.  He  had  the  discernment 
to  see  that  the  cause  of  this  hundred  years  of 
civil  war  was  the  fatal  sovereignty  of  Kief, 
or  what  remained  of  it  ;  and  accordingly 
conceived  the  idea  of  making  the  city  of 
Vladimir  the  capital.  With  this  view  he 
carried  away  a  beautiful  statue  of  the  Virgin 
and  set  it  up  in  Vladimir.  He  pillaged  Kief, 
and  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  his  younger 
brother,  but  never  recovered  its  position ; 
but  Vladimir  (founded  by  Monomachus)  rose 
in  its  stead.  He  also  improved  the  city  of 
Moscow,  which  was  rapidly  rising  in  impor- 
tance, and  next  to  Novgorod  was  the  most 
flourishing  city  in  Russia  ;  for  Kief  had  fallen 


PETTY   SUZERAINTIES 


21 


from  its  place,  its  buildings  and  churches 
were  destroyed,  its  inhabitants  had  fled,  its 
commerce  and  its  beauty  vanished.  Indeed, 
considering  the  number  of  fights  and  contests 
which  had  taken  place  within  its  walls,  it  is 
surprising  that  one  stone  was  left  upon 
another.  Andrew's  endeavours  were  to  re- 
unite Russia,  making  her  one  extensive 
kingdom  once  again.  But  he  was  unsucessful, 
for  Novgorod,  the  most  prosperous  city, 
remained  isolated,  though  it  submitted  to 
Vsevolod  and  Kief  followed  its  example. 
His  own  principality,  Suzdal,  was  the  only 
one  in  which  the  semblance  of  order  was 
preserved.  But  even  that,  after  his  assassina- 
tion (1174),  was  broken  up  by  his  successor 
into  separate  parts,  over  which  were  estab- 
lished governors.  The  state  of  Russia  at  this 
time  was  therefore  an  immense  territory  split 
up  into  a  number  of  petty  suzerainties  sup- 
posed to  be  feudatory,  but  in  fact  allodial. 

This  system,  fatal  to  the  rise  of  cities  or  the 
spread  of  commerce,  had  commenced  at  the 
death  of  Vladimir  I,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
exertions  of  Vladimir  Monomachus  and 
Andrew,  had  been  on  the  increase  ever  since. 
Is  it  then  surprising  that  the  country  fell  an 
easy  prey  to  the  Mongols,  whose  hand  pressed 
as  heavily  upon  her — aye,  more  heavily  than 


t 


22 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


that  of  the  Norman  pressed  upon  the  Saxons  ? 
These  feudatories  were  perpetually  at  war. 
Their  number  at  one  time  must  have  amounted 
to  more  than  seventy.     Few  of  them  would 
acknowledge    the    superiority    of    one    over 
another,    and    fewer    that    of    the    central 
government  over  all  of  them.    Nestor  beheves 
the  secret  of  the  feuds  to  have  been  the  law 
of  descent,  viz.  that  the  next  brother  took  the 
place  of  the  deceased  instead  of  his  eldest  son. 
But  there  is  no  reason  for  this  statement ; 
indeed  the  son,  being  young,  would  naturally 
be  incHned  to  submit  to   his   uncle.     One 
would  fancy  this  system  more  conducive  to 
order  than  the  usual  one  of  representation. 
The  division  of  his  possessions  by  Vladimir  is 
more  probably  the  event  which  gave  a  start 
to  the  intestine  wars,  as  the  quarrels  of  his 
sons  were  imitated  by  their  inferiors,  till  the 
country  became  nothing  but  a  scene  of  feud 
and  outrage.     Had  one  sovereign  succeeded 
Vladimir,  and  the  principle  of  the  unity  of 
the  chief  magistracy  been  adhered  to,  the 
development  of  the  country  would  no  doubt 
have  continued,  and  the  Mongolian  inroads 
been  repelled,   with  the  result  that  Russia 
might  have  rivalled  the  Western  Powers  in 
advanced  civilization.     The  Western  Powers 
are  scarcely  of  earlier  date  ;   but  the  internal 


> 


V 


MONGOL   INVASION 


23 


V 


dissensions  by  which  they  have  been  torn, 
though  producing  greater  convulsions  while 
they  lasted,  were  not  so  disastrous  in  their 
results.     Thus  the  rebelhons  of  great  feud- 
atories like  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  in  France, 
or   Warwick    (the    kingmaker)   in   England, 
though  threatening  to  subvert  the  dynasties 
at  which  they  were  aimed,  and  tremendous 
in  their  immediate  effects,  left  the  countries 
no   weaker  in   the  end.      A  comparison  in 
ordinary   life   may   be    drawn   to   the    con- 
sequences of  great  griefs  and  small  ones.    A 
great  grief  may  be  worse  to  bear  for  the  time, 
but  it  seldom  kills  ;    it  is  the  succession  of 
small  ones  which  wear  the  soul  away.     The 
only  other  country  which  has  been  for  a  con- 
siderable time  wasted  by  petty  wars  is  Scot- 
land, when  a  separate  kingdom  ;  and  the  con- 
sequences she  still  feels.     Consider  how  thin 
are  her  population— and  how  poor  as  a  rule  ! 
But  to  return. 

THE  MONGOL  INVASION  (1224).      GENGHIS 

KHAN 

The  Mongols,  or  Tartars,  came  from  South- 
Eastern  Siberia  ;  they  were  a  nomad  tribe, 
carrying  on  their  depredations  in  Central  Asia 
and  South-Eastern  Europe.  Early  in  the 
thirteenth    century,    Genghis    Khan,    *' the 


•ir.  ijmi 


24 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


great  chief/'  so  called  by  a  dervish  who  pro- 
phesied that  the  whole  world  should  bow  to 
him,  led  them.  His  principal  exploit  was  the 
capture  of  Pekin,  which  he  burnt.  In  1224 
he  obtained  a  victory  over  the  Russians  on 
the  banks  of  the  River  Kalka,  near  to  the  Sea 
of  Azof,  but  his  best  years  were  spent  in  war 
with  China.  It  was  Bati,  his  grandson,  who 
in  1237  defeated  Daniel,  Prince  of  Kalisch, 
burst  into  Russia,  destroyed  Bezan,  Perislav, 
Moscow,  and  Kief  ;  in  fact  every  city  of  im- 
portance except  Novgorod,  which  was  pre- 
served by  Alexander  Newsky,  who  died  in 
1263,  on  return  from  paying  Mongol  tribute. 
Alexander  defeated  the  Swedes,  the  Livonians, 
and  then  the  Lithuanians,  and  his  fame  spread 
throughout  Russia,  and  spared  her  from  a 
fresh  Tartar  invasion.  He  became  ruler  of 
Vladimir. 

Bati  was  noted  for  his  cruelties.  The 
women  and  children  were  put  to  torture  ;  the 
men  who  were  strong  sold  into  slavery,  and 
the  aged  executed  wholesale.  Those  who  did 
not  resist  were  treated  with  the  same  barbarity 
as  those  who  did.  Houses  were  pillaged, 
towns  laid  desolate.  The  churches,  domes, 
and  other  buildings  in  the  large  cities  were 
destroyed.  In  Vladimir  not  one  inhabitant 
survived  the  massacre  nor  was  a  single  house 


BATI— HIS   CRUELTIES 


25 


left  standing.  Yury,  or  George,  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Suzdal,  left  the  city  on  the  approach 
of  the  barbarians  in  order  to  collect  an 
army,  confiding  its  protection  to  a  boyar, 
who  was  destitute  of  the  skill  and  courage 
necessary  for  the  occasion.  The  Grand 
Princess  and  her  children  had  taken  refuge  in 
the  interior  of  the  cathedral ;  the  enemy  set 
fire  to  it  and  they  were  burnt  to  death." 
Yury,  maddened  at  the  loss  of  his  capital, 
wife,  and  children,  attacked  the  Tartars  on 
the  banks  of  the  River  Sit  with  an  insufficient 
force,  and  he  and  his  army  were  slain  to  a 
man. 

Jaroslav,  brother  of  Yury,  governed  at 
Novgorod.  He  took  possession  of  Kief  on 
his  brother's  death,  and  afterwards  one  of  his 
generals  defended  it  for  some  time  against  a 
second  attack.  This  general,  when  it  fell, 
had  the  shrewdness  to  save  his  life  and  benefit 
his  country  by  obtaining  a  hearing  with  Bati, 
and  pointing  out  to  him  that  there  was  no 
further  spoil  to  be  gained  in  Russia,  but 
plenty  in  Hungary  and  Poland  ;  that  it  was 
useless  destroying  any  more  of  the  Russian 
people,  as  owing  to  their  weakness  from  dis- 
sensions within  and  invasions  from  without 
the  Mongols  need  fear  no  reprisals  from 
them. 


26 


RUSSIA'S    STORY 


THE   GOLDEN   HORDE 


Bati  pursued  his  conquests  and  established 
on  the  Volga  the  Khanate  of  the  Kaptschak, 
or  the  Golden  Horde.    This  meant  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Khan  ;   it  was  so  called  from 
the  gilded  tapestry  which  graced  the  Khan's 
tent,    tapestry    given    to    Genghis    by    the 
Emperor  of  China,  and  it  afterwards  meant 
the  whole  Tartar  Empire.    Bati  was  not  Khan 
of  Tartary  himself,  his  uncle  was  the  great 
Khan  ;    therefore  the  Khanite  Bati  set  up 
must  have  been  a  sort  of  branch  sovereignty 
owing  nominal  subjection  to  the  great  Khan. 
Jaroslav  made  friends  with  Bati,  and  so  Nov- 
gorod was  never  destroyed  ;    yet  the  whole 
of  Russia  groaned  under  Tartar  oppression 
till  freed  by  Ivan  the  Great  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century.    The  Church  alone  kept  the 
people  together  ;  they  remembered  they  were 
one  ;  they  worshipped  the  same  God,  and  the 
priests  cheered  them  by  the  assurance  that 
the  day  would  come  when  the  heathen  would 
be  swept  from  the  land  and  the  Christian 
would  enjoy  his  own  once  more.    In  1272  the 
Tartars  embraced  Islamism.     They  allowed 
the   Russians  to  continue  under  their  own 
rulers,  never  trying  to  turn  them  into  Mongols, 
but  they  exacted  tribute  from  them,  punished 


r 


THE  TEREM— IVAN  I,  "KALITA''   27 

the  slightest  disobedience  to  their  orders  with 
devastating  invasions,  and  on  the  whole  made 
their  condition  intolerable.  Russia  had  be- 
come almost  orientalized  under  them  ;  for 
instance,  the  Terem,  the  house  set  apart  for 
women's  seclusion  (a  Greek  name),  owes  its 
origin  to  them,  a  seclusion  not  entirely 
removed  until  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great. 

The  princes  even  continued  their  private 
quarrels,  and  at  times  one  of  them  would 
entreat  the  assistance  of  their  oppressors 
against  another,  as  George  did  against  his 
brother  Michael,  the  rightful  Prince  of  Nov- 
gorod. In  1304,  Michael,  wishing  to  spare 
the  blood  of  his  subjects,  offered  to  repair  to 
the  great  Khan  himself,  beyond  the  wall  of 
China,  and  offer  explanations.  When  there 
he  was  slain,  and  George  succeeded  him,  who 
in  his  turn  was  slain  by  the  son  of  Michael, 
who,  again,  was  slain  by  orders  of  the  Khan, 
and 

IVAN   I   (1328-I341),    CALLED   KALITA 
(*'  THE   PURSE  ''), 

another  brother  of  Michael,  became  Grand 
Prince  of  Novgorod  and  Vladimir.  He  estab- 
lished his  residence  at  Moscow,  which  from 
that  time  became  the  capital.  Moscow  had 
been  founded  by  Yuri,  or  Yeorge,  son  of 


\ 


28 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Vladimir  Monomachus,  called  the  ''  long- 
handed.'*  The  name  is  taken  from  the  river 
it  overlooked.  *'  Kremhn  *'  comes  from 
Kremel,  the  Tartar  for  fortress.  The  KremUn 
was  built  by  Ivan  III. 

By  keeping  on  good  terms  with  the  Tartars 
on  the  one  hand,  and  by  artfully  crushing  and 
amalgamating  the  smaller  states  on  the  other, 
Ivan  paved  the  way  for  that  freedom  which 
was  not  obtained  till  nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  later,  in  which  policy  he  was 
followed  by  his  successors,  Simeon  the  Proud 
(1340-1353)  and 


IVAN  II  (1353-1358), 
who  styled  himself  ''  Prince  of  all  the  Russias," 
thus  suggesting  the  idea  of  national  unity 
throughout  the  hitherto  divided  country. 
He  succumbed  to  the  plague  called  the  Black 
Death,  then  raging.  In  1340  Galicia  was 
annexed  to  Poland  by  Casimir  the  Great. 
Guidemia,  a  Lithuanian  (1315-1340),  had  got 
possession  of  Kief  and  Vilna,  the  capital  of 
Lithuania,  and,  under  one  Jagiello,  Kief  and 
Lithuania  became  united  to  Poland,  and  did 
not  return  to  Russia  till  1568,  in  the  time  of 
Alexis,  when  the  "  Home  Rule  ''  of  Lithuania 
ended. 


t 


DEMETRIUS  DONSKOI 


29 


\ 


i 


DEMETRIUS   DONSKOI   (1359-I389) 

Demetrius,  the  son  and  successor  of  Ivan  II, 
was  less  cautious  than  Ivan  :  he  opposed  the 
Tartars  in  arms,  and  for  the  first  time  they 
encountered  a  serious  resistance  from  the 
Russians.  The  habits  of  the  Tartars  had 
changed.  The  once  hardy  race  were  not  what 
they  were.  Conquest  and  association  with 
civilized  nations  had  imparted  the  germs  of 
weakness  to  them.  Desire  for  money  had 
supplanted  desire  for  blood  ;  it  was  more 
agreeable  for  them  to  enjoy  the  vast  spoils 
their  fathers  had  collected  together  than  to 
organize  expeditions  to  obtain  new  ones. 

TARTAR  DEFEAT  (1380) 

However,  they,  in  conjunction  with  Prince 
Tagellon  of  Poland,  in  1378  attempted  an 
invasion  ;  but  Demetrius,  aided  by  his 
brother,  Vladimir  ''  the  Brave,'*  inflicted  a 
severe  defeat  on  them  by  the  River  Don,  at 
the  Field  of  Woodcocks,  and  the  day  of  the 
victory,  '*  The  Saturday  of  Demetrius,"  is 
still  observed  in  Russia.  They  gave  him  the 
name  of  Donskoi,  or  Demetrius  of  the  Don. 
But  this  victory  was  dearly  paid  for.    When 


30 


RUSSIA'S    STORY 


Demetrius  was  absent,  a  Tartar  army  ap- 
peared at  the  gates  of  Moscow  (in  1382), 
obtained  admittance  by  cunning,  and,  accord- 
ing to  their  usual  custom,  massacred  the 
people  and  destroyed  the  buildings.  There- 
fore the  fruits  of  the  successful  battle  were 
entirely  lost.  Demetrius  did  not  risk  another 
battle,  but  consented  to  pay  a  tribute  and  to 
acknowledge  Tartar  domination  throughout 
Russia  :  which  his  son  Basil  continued  to 
allow. 

VASSILY   I,    OR   BASIL   (1389-I425) 
INVASION    BY   TAMBERLINE 

But  now  the  Tartars  had  begun  to  war 
amongst  themselves.  Although  their  power 
was  broken,  they  still  lingered  on  the  Russian 
frontier  till  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
But  the  rule  of  Mongolian  tyranny  was  ever 
from  the  time  of  Demetrius.  In  1392  Tamber- 
line,  a  famous  conqueror,  and  supposed  to  be 
a  descendant  of  Genghis  Khan  (though  early 
in  life  he  was  so  poor  that  he  possessed  merely 
a  single  camel)  defeated  Tok-ma-tisch,  the 
great  Khan,  who  in  1382  had  almost  levelled 
Moscow,  and  afterwards,  with  four  hundred 
thousand  men,  entered  Russia,  but  did  not 
advance  as  far  as  Moscow,  stopping  at  the 


TAMBERLINE— BASILTHE  BLIND  31 

Don  instead  ;  by  following  its  course  he 
arrived  at  Azof,  a  flourishing  mercantile  cit3^ 
which  he  plundered,  and  removed  the  spoil  to 
Samarcand. 

VASSILY    II,    OR    BASIL   THE    BLIND 
(1425-I462) 

Basil  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Basil  the 
Blind,  who  had  his  eyes  put  out  in  1446, 
having  been  taken  prisoner  by  a  prince  called 
Demetrius,  whose  cousin  Basil,  in  his  earher 
years,  in  a  fit  of  passion  had  also  blinded.  He 
was  released  later,  put  again  on  the  throne, 
and  reigned  some  years.  The  mode  of  his 
death  was  strange  ;  to  cure  a  low  fever  which 
hung  upon  him,  his  physicians  suggested 
singeing  his  body  with  a  fungus  set  alight ; 
unfortunately  the  remedy  did  not  have  the 
desired  effect,  and  the  prince  died  instead. 
This  was  the  last  ruler  who  acknowledged 
Tartar  supremacy,  their  power  now  being 
broken,  and  his  successor  effectually  eman- 
cipated the  nation  from  their  dominion. 

The  Cossacks  sprang  into  notice  somewhere 
about  this  time.  They  were  a  tribe  living  on 
the  borders  of  the  Don  and  Dnieper,  Christians 
and  warriors.  They  had  one  chief — the  rest 
of  them  being  equal,  and  bore  the  same  long 


32  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

lances  and  rode  the  same  small  horses  as  they 
do  this  day.     At  this  period  (1453)  Constan- 
tinople was  taken  by  the  Turks,  and  the  Greek 
Empire  fell.     The  event  excited  much  sym- 
pathy in  Russia  ;    the  head  of  the  ancient 
Church,   which    was   the    universal    worship 
throughout  the  Empire,  and  which  was  its 
prop  during  the  dread  time  of  Tartar  tyranny, 
had  fallen  by  the  hand  of  the  infidel.    True, 
it  must  have  been  foreseen  for  years;    but 
that  did  not  lessen  the  grief  when  the  blow 
came,  nor  were  the  Russians  pleased  to  see  a 
nation  of  unbelieving  warriors  estabhshed  on 
their  borders  in  the  place  of  the  reverenced 
imbellicose   Greek  Empire.     The  feeUng  of 
hatred   between   the    Muscovite    and   Turk, 
which  has  never  since  been  quelled,  sprung 
up  on  the  first  establishment  of  the  latter  in 
Europe ;     and   the    headship    of   the    Greek 
religion  was  transferred  to  Russia,  where  it 
has  remained  ever  since. 


IVAN   THE   GREAT   [ill]   (1462-I505) 

Ivan  Basilovitch,  great-grandson  of  Dimitri 
Donskoi,  surnamed  the  Great,  mounted  the 
throne  in  1462.  He  was  probably  so  called 
more  from  the  length  of  his  reign,  which 


' 


IVAN  THE  GREAT— MARFA     33 

lasted  for  forty-three  years,  and  from  the 
conspicuous  place  Russia  began  to  occupy 
during  it,  than  from  any  merits  of  his  own. 
It  was  in  his  time  that  the  Tartars  were 
finally  expelled,  that  communications  with  the 
Western  Powers  were  commenced,  and  that 
Russia  became  worthy  of  the  dignity  of  being 
styled  an  independent  nation.  Also  her 
dominions  were  much  extended  by  him. 
Novgorod  had  hitherto  been  only  nominally 
subject  to  the  ruler  at  Moscow.  It  was 
governed  by  the  widow  of  the  last  prince, 
Marfa,  a  woman  of  talent  and  spirit,  but  who 
hated  Ivan.  Her  desire  was  to  shake  off  even 
the  shadow  of  dependence,  and  to  further  this 
aim  she  entered  into  a  treaty  with  Casimir, 
the  King  of  Poland ;  but  before  he  could 
despatch  troops  to  her  aid  Ivan  was  in  Nov- 
gorod, which  he  reduced  to  subjection  and 
incorporated  with  the  Empire.  The  great  bell 
of  the  cathedral,  most  of  the  riches  accumu- 
lated at  various  times  by  merchants,  jewels 
and  precious  stones,  were  conveyed  to  the 
capital ;  until  this  time  Novgorod  had  un- 
deniably been  the  first  city  in  war,  in  com- 
merce, and  in  progress  in  Russia. 


I  « 


34 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


LAST  TARTAR   INVASION 


Ivan's  second  wife  was  the  Princess  Zoe, 
a  daughter  of  Thomas  Palaeologus,  brother  to 
the  last  Greek  Emperor,  who  was  then  Uving 
at  Rome.  Her  name  was  then  changed  to 
Sophia,  according  to  Greek  Church  custom. 
This  alliance  was  favoured  by  Pope  Sixtus  IV, 
who  hoped  to  unite  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Churches.  With  her  was  adopted  the  crest  of 
the  Greek  Imperial  family,  the  double-headed 
eagle.  She  was  instrumental  in  inducing  the 
monarch  to  throw  off  Tartar  tribute,  which 
he  would  have  no  doubt  continued  to  render, 
as  he  was  personally  averse  to  war.  The 
refusal  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the 
Khan  Achmet  brought  a  Tartar  army  into 
Russia.  But  this  army,  though  large,  was 
timid,  and  the  Khan  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  a  daring  leader.  Ivan  also  hesitated  at 
engaging,  so,  after  much  manoeuvring,  the 
strange  sight  of  two  armies,  each  retreating 
from  the  other  and  covering  its  retreat  by  its 
advanced  guard,  might  have  been  seen — a 
sight  which  once  again,  after  a  lapse  of  many 
years,  occurred  in  Russia  ;  but  the  com- 
batants then  were  of  a  different  stamp,  the 
causes  of  the  retreat  dissimilar,  and  the  results 
far  more  terribly  disastrous  to  the  vanquished. 
It   was   when   Napoleon,   after   abandoning 


THE   TARTAR   RETREAT        35 

Moscow  and  advancing  on  the  heights  of 
Kalouga,  alarmed  at  their  inaccessibility  and 
at  the  apparently  impregnable  positions  of 
the  Russian  armies,  gave  up  the  idea  of  forcing 
them,  and  with  anguish  unutterable  resolved 
to  retreat  to  Germany  on  the  war-worn  track 
by  which  he  had  come,  instead  of,  as  he  hoped, 
by  the  fertile  land  of  Poland  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Russians,  terrified  by  the  prestige 
of  the  French  arms  and  the  seeming  boldness 
of  Napoleon's  advance,  had  also  intended  to 
abandon  Kalouga  without  a  struggle  ;  so  both 
armies,  though  the  other  knew  it  not,  were 
running  away.  But  when  the  Russians  were 
assured  of  Napoleon's  retreat  the  effect  on 
their  courage  was  electrical,  and  resulted  in 
the  total  destruction  of  the  French  army. 
Had  Napoleon  persevered  in  his  intention  of 
crossing  the  mountains  he  would  have  done  so 
without  serious  loss,  and  the  fate  of  the  world 
might  have  been  changed.  But  the  retreating 
armies  of  which  we  are  speaking  were  of 
another  stamp,  both  as  to  leaders  and  men, 
and  the  consequences  were  only  important  in 
that  no  further  invasions  were  attempted  by 
the  Tartars,  for  the  Khan  was  soon  after 
murdered  and  the  Mongol  Empire  expired 
with  him,  the  supremacy  over  Russia  having 
lasted  for  three  centuries. 


36 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


There  were  no  important  wars  in  this  reign, 
but  Ivan  increased  his  territory,  annexing 
Viatka  and  Tver  in  1489  and  extending  his 
Empire  westward  to  the  Desna  and  north- 
ward to  the  Pechora.  He  also  encouraged 
hterature  and  art,  had  the  greater  part  of  the 
KremUn  built,  and  in  his  reign  more  attention 
was  given  to  diplomatic  connections  with 
foreign  Powers,  in  which  intercourse  Ivan 
assumed  the  name  of  Czar,  derived,  according 
to  Karamsin,  from  an  eastern  word  signifying 
'*  power,''  and  used  by  the  Assyrian  kings,  as 
in  ''  Belshazzar,''  ''  Nebuchadnezzar."  It  is 
really  the  Slavonic  form  of  Caesar. 

Ivan  was  noted  for  his  pusillanimity  in  war 
and  his  severity  at  home,  of  which  severity 
the  following  incident  may  be  quoted  as  an 
example.  His  favourite  son,  being  ill,  was 
attended  by  a  physician,  who,  in  the  way  of 
conversation^  said  that  he  would  stake  his  hfe 
on  the  Prince's  recovery.  When  the  Prince 
died  Ivan  had  the  physician  executed.  But 
his  cruelties  were  trifling  when  compared 
with  those  of  some  of  his  successors  ;  in  truth, 
few  Russian  rulers  have  been  remarkable  for 
their  clemency  ;  scarcely  a  page  of  her  history 
can  be  turned  over  without  some  painful 
scene  of  bloodshed. 


IVAN   THE   TERRIBLE 


37 


VASSILI  (IVANOVITCH)   III  (1505-I533) 

Ivan  died  after  a  reign  of  forty-three 
years,  leaving  a  grandson  by  Ivan,  his  eldest 
son,  who  predeceased  him.  Dreading  the 
evils  of  a  minority  he  was  succeeded  to  the 
throne  by  his  son  Vassili,  or  Basil,  whose 
period  of  power  was  in  no  way  remarkable, 
save  for  his  victories  over  the  Lithuanian 
knights  and  the  addition  of  Smolensk  to  his 
dominions.  Also  in  15 11  (according  to 
Horsey 's  Diary)  the  Mongols  made  another 
raid  and  burnt  Moscow.  His  character  and 
mode  of  government  was  akin  to  that  of  his 
father,  though  perhaps  on  the  whole  milder. 
By  his  second  wife,  Helen  Ghriska,  the 
daughter  of  a  Lithuanian  noble  (his  first  wife 
he  had  divorced  for  being  barren),  he  left  two 
sons,  Ivan  and  Yury.  Yury  was  half-witted  ; 
Ivan  was  ''  Ivan  the  Terrible,"  the  hero  of 
many  a  startling  and  awful  story.  Legend 
avers  that  a  fearful  storm  burst  over  Moscow 
on  the  night  of  his  birth,  indicating  the  anger 
of  Heaven  at  the  event.  He  was  in  the 
nursery  when  left  without  his  father,  and  his 
mother  became  Regent ;  she  was  cruel  and 
unprincipled,  and  having  put  out  of  the  way 
her  principal  enemies  with  as  little  scruple  as 
Richard  III  did  in  our  own  history,  she  made 


■•KkX***"*** 


38 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


the  Captain  of  the  Guard  her  favourite.  For 
some  time  they  ruled  vigorously  and  with 
discretion.  One  day  the  Queen  was  suddenly 
poisoned.  Her  crimes  prevented  the  least 
sorrow  being  felt  at  the  event ;  but  history 
tells  us  how  the  little  Czar  threw  himself  with 
a  burst  of  grief  on  the  neck  of  his  dead  mother 
and  kissed  her  again  and  again,  then  vowed 
a  lifelong  vengeance  on  the  people  who 
rejoiced  at  her  loss,  and  terribly  he  kept  his 
vow.  Teleunef,  her  lover,  was  thrown  into  a 
dungeon,  where  he  perished  from  hunger, 
and  the  boyars  contested  for  the  protector- 
ship. Ten  years'  confusion  followed,  and  the 
kingdom  was  not  entirely  at  peace,  nor  the 
last  remains  of  the  Appanages  gone,  until  Ivan 
became  eighteen,  and  assumed  the  reins  of 
government. 

IVAN   IV  (the   terrible)  (1533-I584) 

He  was  the  first  Emperor  who  was  solemnly 
crowned  with  the  title  of  Czar.  The  Empire 
was  now  powerful  and  strong.  The  monarch 
could  ensure  the  implicit  obedience  of  the 
nobles  and  people  ;  he  possessed  an  army  of 
three  hundred  thousand  men  ;  there  were  no 
enemies  at  home  or  abroad,  the  relations  with 
Poland  and  other  States  were  friendly.    The 


1 


Ivan   I\',  The  Tkkkiki.k 
Kirst  Czar  of  Muscovy.      Keignol  1533- 15S4 


I'o  jacf  />a^f  38 


MOSCOW   BURNT— ANASTASIA   39 

Tartars  were  crushed  and  their  Golden  Horde 
was  no  more  ;  merchants,  scientific  and  other 
erudite  men  poured  into  the  country,  which 
was  beginning  to  be  feared  by  foreign  States, 
and  was  rapidly  increasing  in  prosperity. 
The  first  event  after  Ivan  assumed  the  reins 
of  government  himself  was  a  fire,  which 
destroyed  a  large  part  of  Moscow.  Ivan  did 
not,  like  Nero  (to  whom  he  has  often  been 
compared),  make  it  an  opportunity  for  festiv- 
ities ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  produced  a 
wholesome  effect  upon  him,  and  was  instru- 
mental in  retarding  the  growth  of  his  career 
of  vice.  Other  causes  also  tended  to  retard 
it — ^the  chief  of  which  were  the  admonitions 
of  the  priests  and  the  gentle  influence  of  his 
young  wife  Anastasia  Rumanova,  a  Russian ; 
the  worst  acts  of  his  life  did  not  occur  until 
after  her  death.  His  first  attention  was 
directed  towards  internal  reforms,  and  then 
he  indulged  in  some  military  exploits. 

The  city  of  Kazan,  near  the  Volga,  was  the 
only  place  in  Russia  which  still  belonged  to  the 
Tartars.  Ivan,  with  a  hundred  thousand  men, 
marched  against  the  city,  took  it  with  some 
difficulty,  and  made  it  a  portion  of  his  Empire. 
On  his  return  from  this  successful  campaign, 
a  messenger  saluted  him,  announcing  that  in 
his  absence  the  Czarina  had  given  birth  to  a 


40  RUSSIANS   STORY 

son.  It  is  said  that  in  his  delight  he  clasped 
the  messenger  to  his  arms,  and  having  nothing 
else  at  hand  to  give  him,  presented  him  with 
his  horse  and  royal  mantle  and  continued  his 
journey  on  foot.  This  anecdote  forms  a 
strange  contrast  to  his  moroseness  in  later 

times. 

The  first  communication  with  England  took 
place  in  his  reign.  Some  EngUshmen  under 
R.  Chancellor  and  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby, 
charged  with  the  discovery  of  the  Frozen 
Ocean,  were  shipwrecked  and  brought  to 
the  Czar,  who  received  them  most  hospi- 
tably, and  soon  after  Queen  Mary  of  England 
concluded  a  commercial  treaty  with  him  and 
a  Russian  company  was  formed.  In  1556 
the  exchange  of  ambassadors  commenced, 
which  was  shortly  afterwards  followed  by 
exchange  of  presents. 

Archangel  was  discovered,  and  some  other 
places  in  the  direction  of  the  North  Pole  and 
in  Northern  Asia.  After  Ivan  had  been  on 
the  throne  thirteen  years,  Anastasia  died.  He 
was  deeply  attached  to  her,  and  bitterly 
mourned  her  loss.  The  worst  passions  of  his 
nature  now  broke  out,  and  his  reign  was  dis- 
graced by  atrocities  which  rivalled  those  of 
Nero  or  Caligula.  Some  of  his  actions  were 
so  curious  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether 


IVAN   AND   HENRY  VIII 


41 


\ 


\ 


the  loss  of  his  wife  had  not  softened  his  brain, 
and  whether  what  he  did  latterly  may  not  be 
attributed  to  madness  rather  than  to  vice. 
For  instance,  at  one  time  he  took  it  into  his 
head  suddenly  to  depart  no  man  knew  whither. 
The  people  feared,  yet  they  loved  him,  and 
after  a  month  or  so  his  hiding-place  was  dis- 
covered and  they  entreated  him  to  return. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  in  history  that  often  a  cold- 
blooded tyrant  continues  to  keep  the  affec- 
tions of  his  people  in  spite  of  the  most  out- 
rageous acts,  while  a  merciful  prince  some- 
times loses  them  for  the  merest  trifle.  Witness 
Henry  VIII  and  this  Ivan.  What  had  either 
of  them  ever  done  that  a  single  tear  should 
be  shed  when  they  died  ?  Posterity  may  well 
marvel  that  their  people  did  not  rise  against 
them  in  a  mass — that  they  quietly  allowed 
the  will  of  one  to  inflict  misery  on  thousands. 
The  truth  is  that  these  men  had  a  strength  of 
character  which  awed  and  kept  the  people  in 
check. 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  A  STANDING  ARMY 

On  Ivan's  return  he  instituted  a  new  body- 
guard called  Opritshniks,  or  Select  Legion. 
This  was  the  first  foundation  of  a  standing 
army  in  Russia,  and  was  better  known  by  the 


42  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

name  of  the  Strelitz  ;  it  was  soon  increased  to 
six  thousand  men,  who  rode  the  streets  with 
a  dog's  head  and  a  broom  suspended  from  the 
saddle-bow  ;    the  former  was  to  show  how 
they  worried  the  enemies  of  the  Czar,  and  the 
latter  how  they  swept  them  off  the  face  of  the 
earth.     As  Ivan  grew  older  his  passion  for 
blood  increased.    He  put  to  death  Alexandra, 
the  widow  of  his  brother  Yuri.    He  built  the 
Church  of  St.  Basil  at  Moscow  and  ordered 
the  architect's  eyes  to  be  put  out,  so  that  he 
should  never  build  another  to  rival  it.     On 
one  day  as  many  as  six  princes  were  beheaded 
and  a  seventh  impaled.    The  streets  and  city 
gates  were  filled  with  the  dead,  and  the  sur- 
vivors were  afraid  to  bury  them  lest  they 
should  rouse  the  wrath  of  the  monster  by 
appearing  to  sympathize  with  the  victims  of 
his  fury  ;    his  vengeance  was  extended  also 
to  the  weaker  sex  :  he  would  often  cause  the 
lady  of  a  noble,  who  had  incurred  his  dis- 
pleasure, to  stand  for  hours  in  an  indeUcate 
position  in  the  pubhc  sight  before  he  put  her 
to  death.    It  were  tedious  to  dwell  upon  the 
enormities  of  Ivan,  so  one  or  two  of  his  crown- 
ing acts  shall  alone  be  noticed.    Tidings  came 
to  him  of  a  conspiracy  in  Novgorod.     He 
marched  with  his  select  legion  to  the  place, 
literally  exterminating  the  inhabitants  of  the 


ATROCITIES   OF   IVAN 


43 


! 


i 


towns  as  he  went  along.  When  he  entered 
the  city  he  celebrated  mass  in  the  cathedral  ; 
then  he  ordered  a  deliberate  massacre  of  the 
whole  population.  The  work  took  five  weeks  ; 
husbands  and  wives,  mothers  and  children, 
were  either  flung  into  the  Volkhof  or  dis- 
patched by  the  spears  of  soldiers.  Then  the 
shops  and  warehouses  were  plundered,  Ivan 
superintending  the  work  in  person.  When  it 
was  nearly  done,  he  ordered  as  a  mockery  a 
general  pardon  to  the  few  who  remained 
alive  ;  to  whom,  deprived  of  those  they  loved, 
and  stripped  of  their  property,  death  would 
have  been  a  mercy.  Sixty  thousand  victims 
lay  dead  in  the  streets  ;  to  some  ten  thousand 
living  this  boon  was  offered.  The  pillage  of 
the  Mongols  and  the  devastation  of  the 
contesting  factions  had  never  inflicted  such 
visitations  on  the  Russian  cities  as  the  caprice 
of  their  own  ruler. 

An  historian  has  said  that  if  he  only  had 
lived  long  enough  he  would  have  exterminated 
the  entire  population  of  his  Empire.  His 
amusements  were  of  the  same  nature  as  his 
punishments  ;  letting  bears  loose  among  the 
people,  while  he  stood  at  the  windows  to 
watch  the  result ;  chopping  off  the  noses  or 
ears  of  his  boyars  when  they  came  to  pay 
their  respects  ;  laying  traps  and  mines  in  the 


■ 


44  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

streets  for  the  benefit  of  the  passers-by.  etc. 
etc     No  man  was  safe  from  his  vengeance,  no 
woman  from  his  passion.    His  amours  were 
carried  on  even  without  regard  for  decency  ; 
fathers  were  ordered  to  bring  their  daughters 
and  bridegrooms  their  brides.     One  of  his 
favourite  pastimes  was  interrupting  a  mam- 
age  ceremony  and  taking  away  the  lady  ; 
virtue  was  no  protection,  innocence  no  screen. 
He    had    seven    wives,     one    more    than 
Henry  VHI,  but  was  not  attached  to  any 
save  Anastasia,  "  the  day  star  of  his  exist- 
ence."   However,  there  is  no  record  of  any  ot 
them  being  executed.    He  was  refused  by  the 
Princess  Catherine  of  Poland,  which  led  to  a 
war  between  him  and  her  father.     His  last 
act  was  one  of  his  worst.    His  favourite  son, 
who  had  been  his  companion,  and  was  almost 
the  only  being  he  loved— the  Unk  which  con- 
nected him  with  Anastasia— one  day  rushed 
into  his  presence  and  begged  to  have  the 
privilege   of  leading  the   army  which  was 
hastening  to  the  relief  of  Narva,  then  being 
besieged  by  Charles  IX  of  Sweden.     The 
father,  always  suspicious,  fancied  the  request 
might  be  merely  a  cover  to  dethrone  him.  as 
he  knew  his  son  was  averse  to  his  misdeeds 
and  was  loved  by  the  soldiers.     "  Wretch, 
would  you  plot  my  life !  "  he  shouted,  and 


IVAN    KILLS   HIS   SON 


45 


struck  a  fearful  blow  at  the  unfortunate  boy, 
who  fell  to  the  ground  and  died.  Then  the 
demon  of  remorse  came  upon  the  father. 

"  He  sate  in  silence  on  the  ground, 

The  old  and  haughty  Czar ; 
Lonely,  though  princes  girt  him  round, 

And  leaders  of  the  war. 
He  had  cast  his  jewelled  sabre, 

Which  many  a  field  had  won, 
To  the  earth  beside  the  youthful  dead, 

His  first  and  fair- born  son." 

Mrs.  Heman's  poem  then  gives  a  touching 
description  of  the  agony  of  the  father's  mind. 
He  refused  any  consolation,  shunned  his 
courtiers  and  buried  himself  in  a  palace  which 
he  had  built  near  Moscow,  and  there  gave  way 
to  the  wildest  despair. 

This  last  act,  unnatural  and  groundless, 
for  the  son  was  attached  to  his  father,  was  his 
death-blow.  In  March,  1584,  he  was  seized 
with  a  dangerous  illness.  Some  astrologers 
predicted  his  approaching  end,  but  a  threat 
to  strangle  them  soon  made  them  hold  their 
tongues.  He  then  began  to  arrange  his  affairs. 
As  if  to  make  up  for  the  crimes  of  his  life,  he, 
on  his  deathbed,  reduced  some  of  the  heavy 
taxes  he  had  levied  on  his  subjects,  and  ap- 
pointed excellent  counsellors  for  his  surviving 
son,  Feodor.    But  when  he  rallied  a  Uttle  the 


46 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


vices  of  his  character  returned.  His  daughter- 
in-law,  paying  him  a  visit,  was  obUged  to 
retire  precipitately,  her  honour  not  being 
safe  with  him.  The  day  arrived  on  which  the 
astrologers  had  foretold  his  death  ;  he  ordered 
them  to  be  executed  for  their  false  prophecy, 
but  died  before  the  mandate  could  be  carried 
out.  Like  Henry  VHI,  his  last  order  was  for 
a  murder,  and  in  both  cases  the  victims  were 
saved  by  the  tyrant's  decease. 

The  greater  part  of  Siberia  was  acquired 
during  Ivan's  reign  by  a  band  of  Cossacks 
under    Yarmak,    a    general    whose    courage 
and    judicious    behaviour    are    worthy    of 
the  highest  commendation,  especially  when 
we   consider   the   impious   character   of   his 
master.    He  obtained  a  pardon  by  giving  up 
his  acquisitions  to  the  Czar,  for  he  had  been 
deemed  a  robber  and  condemned  to  death. 
Siberia  before  this  was  only  visited  by  traders 
in  search  of  firs.    Sirbir,  no  longer  existing, 
was  the  leading  town  at  that  time.    It  was 
taken  by  the  Cossacks,  and  gave  its  name  to 
Siberia.     It  lay  in  the  vicinity  of  Tobolsk. 
The  Russians  did  not  get  possession  of  the 
left  bank  of  the  River  Amour  till  much  later, 
about  1856. 


.,% 


I 


FEODOR— BORIS— DEMETRIUS  47 

FEODOR   I  (1584-1589) 

Feodor,  the  second  son  of  Ivan,  by 
Anastasia,  was  the  last  monarch  of  the 
Varingian  line,  which  had  occupied  the 
throne  for  over  seven  hundred  years.  He 
was  the  exact  reverse  of  his  father  :  in  intel- 
lect he  was  weak  ;  spirit  he  had  none  ;  his 
appearance  was  insignificant  and  calculated 
neither  to  inspire  affection  nor  fear.  His  chief 
amusement  lay  in  the  ringing  of  church  bells. 

The  Regency  which  his  father  had  ap- 
pointed continued  to  govern,  as  Feodor  was 
incapable  of  doing  so.  The  leader  of  this 
Regency  was  Boris,  brother  of  Irene,  Feodor's 
wife,  a  man  of  craft  and  ambition  who  hoped 
one  day  to  obtain  the  throne  himself,  as 
Feodor  had  no  children  nor  was  he  likely  to 
have  any. 

There  was  one  more  survivor  of  the  line  of 
Rurik,  Dmitri,  or  Demetrius,  a  son  of  Ivan 
by  his  last  wife,  and  still  a  child.  Boris  con- 
trived to  have  him  assassinated  at  Uglich 
(1591),  to  pave  his  own  way  to  the  throne  ; 
and  when  Feodor  died  in  1598,  after  a  reign 
of  fourteen  years,  terminating  a  long  line  of 
Muscovite  princes,  he  was  unanimously  made 
Czar. 

Feodor  kept  up  the  relations  with  England 


48 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


It  1 


but  aboUshed  the  monopoly  of  trade  which 
Ivan,  his  father,  had  given  to  the  Enghsh. 
EUzabeth  expressed  great  irritation  when  this 
monopoly  was  taken  away.    Ivan  the  Terrible 
had  been  partial  to  the  Enghsh,  and  several 
resided  at  his  Court.    Shortly  before  his  death 
he  had  a  long  discussion  with  one  of  them  on 
the  value  of  jewels,  as  they  were  looking  over 
the  many  and  priceless  gems  which  he  and 
his  predecessors  had  acquired  by  conquest, 
plunder,  and  extortion.     He  also  desired  a 
wife  from  England ;  some  writers  say  he  made 
proposals  to  EUzabeth  herself,  though  this  is 
merely  what  almost  every  foreign  potentate 
is  accused  by  some  historian  or  another  of 
having  done  ;   but  it  is  well  known  that  he 
was  anxious  to  obtain  the  hand  of  Lady 
Hastings,  a  relation  and  ward  of  the  Queen : 
but    EUzabeth,    no    doubt    alarmed   at   his 
violence  and  barbarity,  was  averse  to  the 
match,    and   though   she   received   his   am- 
bassadors and  messages  on  the  subject  with 
urbanity,  exercising  her  usual  ingenuity  she 
contrived  to  have  the  marriage  postponed 
and  then  abandoned,  without  giving  offence 
to  the  autocrat.    Besides,  as  Ivan  had  more 
than  one  wife  living  she  could  not  weU  have 
allowed  a  lady  under  her  protection  to  be 
added  to  the  Ust. 


BORIS,   BROTHER   OF    IRENE      49 

BORIS   GODUNOF  (1598-1605) 

Although,  as  above  stated,  Boris  was 
elected  Sovereign  without  opposition,  yet  he 
found  great  difficulty  in  holding  his  place. 
His  policy  was  to  weaken  the  power  of  the 
nobility  and  increase  that  of  the  Crown. 
Other  nobles  who  had  been  members  of  the 
Protectorate  considered  their  claim  as  good 
as  his  own,  and  plots  were  continually  being 
hatched  to  overthrow  him,  which  he  could 
only  suppress  by  instant  and  numerous  execu- 
tions. Sometimes  he  would  stand  up  when 
banqueting  and  denounce  such  and  such  a 
person  as  a  traitor.  This  conduct  made  the 
people  begin  to  fear  that  a  second  reign  of 
terror  was  likely  to  commence,  and  the  temper 
of  the  nation  was  not  inclined  to  tolerate  it, 
as  they  did  under  Ivan  ;  for  the  unquestioned 
power  of  the  house  of  Rurik,  from  the  length 
of  the  time  of  its  supremacy,  as  well  as  from 
its  having  shared  with  the  people  the  evils  of 
the  Tartar  oppression,  and  from  its  having 
been  instrumental  in  shaking  off  that  oppres- 
sion, seemed  to  be  identified  with  the  interests 
of  the  nation,  and  the  superstitious  people 
would  no  more  have  thought  of  displacing  one 
of  its  rulers  than  they  would  of  denying  the 
power  of  the  God  who  placed  him  there.    But 


50  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

the  present  case  was  of  a  widely  different 
nature  :  this  man  was  merely  raised  to  the 
throne  for  want  of  an  heir  of  the  legitimate 
line,  and  having  been  chosen  by  the  people 
the  tenure  of  his  supremacy  should  be  co- 
eval with  his  pleasing  them  ;  therefore,  when 
a  youth  calling  himself  Demetrius  (the  Perkin 
Warbeck  of  Russia),  pretending  to  be  that 
son  of  Ivan  who  was  murdered  by  Boris, 
encouraged  by  the  Polish  Prince  Adam, 
arrived  with  a  PoUsh  army,  the  people  flocked 
to  his  standard.  He  might  be  the  rightful 
heir  ;  there  was  a  chance  of  it  ;  at  all  events 
Boris  was  not,  and  had  forfeited  all  claim  to 
their  protection  by  commencing  a  despotic 
sway. 


li'l 


PART  II 
PERIOD  OF  TROUBLES 

FEODOR   II.— THE   FALSE   DEMETRIUS 
(1605-1613) 

A  BATTLE  was  saved  by  Basumanov,  Boris' 
general,   near  Novgorod,  and  then  another 
battle  was  fought  at  Dotrinichi,  near  Orel 
which  Bons  won,  but  in  a  few  days  after  he 
died  mysteriously,  some  said  by  poison     His 
son  Feodor  succeeded  him,  and  his  bride. 
Manna,  was  crowned  on  May  i8th.     But  a 
rising  took  place  on  May  29th.  and  Feodor 
and  his  mother  were  murdered  and  Marina 
imprisoned.      Then    Demetrius,    proclaimed 
czar  by  General  Basumanov,  reigned  in  his 
stead.    But  he  proved  as  worthless  as  his  pre- 
decessor, and  was  also  killed.     A  precedent 
hawng  been  established,   other  personators 
of  the  murdered  Demetrius  sprang  up.    Mean- 
while Russia's  external  enemies,  ever  ready 
to  take  advantage  of  her  internal  dissensions 
began  to  move.    For  with  the  death  of  Boris 
ended  the  vigorous  rule  and  consoUdation  of 
the  Empire,  and  disputes  succeeded  which 

5« 


1 


Mi 


52  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

lasted  for  nearly  thirty  years.    Basil  Shuiski. 
and  then  a  pretender,  whom  Marina  pretended 
to  be  her  husband  (escaped,  not  murdered), 
seized  the  throne,  and  afterwards  Ladislaus, 
a  Polish  prince,  occupied  it  for  two  years^ 
The   King   of   Poland   took   Smolensk   and 
besieged   Moscow.     Charles   IX   of   Sweden 
attacked  Novgorod,  and  Russia  was  smkmg 
into  the  same  state  of  weakness  as  when  it 
was  divided  for  so  long  before  ;  in  fact  it  was 
threatened   to   become   subject   to   Poland. 
But  the  Church  held  together,  and  showed  an 
excellent   example   to  the   people   by  their 
many  acts  of  heroism. 

THE  HOUSE  OF  BOMANOFF.     MICHAEL 

(1613-1645) 

The  Poles  were  expelled  in  1612,  and  the 
bovars  assembling  chose  Michael,  of  the 
family  of  Romanoff,  though  he  was  only 
sixteen  years  of  age,  for  their  ruler  The 
Romanoffs  were  an  ancient  noble  famdy,  and 
Michael  was  grand-nephew  to  the  Czanna 
Anastasia,  the  first  consort  of  Ivan  IV— 
a  fact  which,  perhaps,  had  something  to  do 

with  his  election.  .     .      ,  „j 

The  choice  of  the  nobles  this  time  happened 

to  be  in  the  right  direction,  for  Michael  was 


I 


f. 


C/\K   MicnAKi. 
The  founder  ot  ihc  Koinaiioff  Dynasty.      Keigneii  i6i3-;645 


R 


7  a  face  page  5a 


I 


I 


MICHAEL   ROMANOFF 


53 


possessed  of  ability,  firmness,  and  judgment, 
and  sorely  Russia  needed  them  all — for  she 
was  beset  by  enemies  on  every  side.  The 
Crimean  Tartars,  a  Khanate  of  some  hundred 
years'  standing,  but  which  had  never  proved 
itself  so  actively  hostile  to  the  Empire  as  the 
Tartars  of  Kiptchak,  was  overrunning  the 
South.  The  famous  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
now  King  of  Sweden,  had  threatened  Nov- 
gorod, and  the  King  of  Poland  was  advancing 
with  another  army,  still  hoping  that  he  might 
force  the  Russians  to  elect  his  son  Ladislaus 
as  their  Czar,  and  thus  unite  Russia  with  his 
own  dominions.  Alas,  could  he  have  foreseen 
how  different  the  result  would  one  day  be  ! 
Michael  first  turned  his  attention  to  the 
Swedes  and  concluded  a  treaty  with  Gustavus 
at  Stolbova  (1617),  in  which  that  magnificent 
chieftain,  though  victorious  in  every  en- 
counter, agreed  to  withdraw  his  armies  in 
return  merely  for  the  provinces  of  Livonia 
and  Ingria.  A  treaty  was  next  concluded 
with  Poland.  But  when  Ladislaus  succeeded 
his  father  war  broke  out  again  and  the 
Russians  lost  Smolensk.  Michael  was  not 
very  successful  in  war,  but  his  administration 
at  home  was  admirable,  though  his  power 
was  much  more  limited  than  that  of  any  of 
his  predecessors.    For  the  Russians,  warned 


54 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


by  precedent  as  to  the  evil  of  entrusting  too 
much  power  to  their  ruler,  had  resolved  at 
his  accession  to  have  a  written  constitution — 
of  which  the  headings  were  :  (i)  That  the 
Czar  would  protect  the  Greek  religion.  (2) 
That  he  would  neither  make  new  laws  nor 
aboUsh  old  ones.  (3)  That  all  cases  should 
be  tried  according  to  the  laws  and  to  pre- 
scribed forms.  (4)  And  that  he  would  not 
make  war  or  peace  without  the  consent  of 
the  nation.  The  grievances  of  the  people 
against  their  sovereigns  are  in  all  countries 
ancient  and  modern  much  alike,  for  history 
repeats  itself,  and  when  they  do,  as  most 
nations  have  done,  contrive  to  get  in  black 
and  white  a  list  of  the  things  which  the  king 
may  do  and  which  he  may  not  do,  the 
lists  are  pretty  much  the  same.  There  was 
missing  here,  however,  any  provision  against 
a  favourite  exaction  of  monarchy,  viz.,  that 
of  raising  money  without  consent.  Its  absence 
cannot  be  very  satisfactorily  accounted  for  ; 
as  it  is  certain  that  Ivan  the  Terrible,  and 
some  others,  levied  cruel  tributes  on  the 
people. 

When  Michael  was  established  on  the 
throne  disturbances  ceased  and  pretenders 
disappeared  as  though  by  magic.  Demetrius 
was  allowed  to  rest  in  his  grave.     Progress 


DISTURBANCES  CEASE 


55 


and  the  study  of  the  fine  arts,  which  had 
slumbered  for  years,  were  revived  ;  diplo- 
matic relations  with  England  and  other 
countries,  which  had  been  suspended  since 
the  death  of  Feodor,  were  renewed,  and 
Russia  began  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a 
compact  Power,  though  not  yet  of  a  European 
one.  Michael  being  of  a  pacific  disposition, 
and  not  given  to  stretchings  of  the  preroga- 
tive, was  not  disturbed  by  continual  fear  of 
insurrections  or  plots ;  these,  if  without 
cause,  would  not  have  found  favour  for  a 
moment ;  the  people  were  wearied  of  war, 
and  what  is  more,  the  house  of  Romanoff  was 
well-beloved.  It  was  connected  with  that  of 
Rurik  through  their  most  adored  princess. 
The  father  of  the  Czar  was  the  leader  of  the 
priesthood — of  that  ancient  and  magnificent 
worship  to  which  the  people  were  so  devoted, 
which  had  held  her  together  during  the  dark 
Tartar  period,  and  which  was  the  successor  of 
the  famous  reUgion  of  the  fallen  Eastern 
Empire.  So  Michael  lived  in  peace  and 
prosperity,  and  died  in  1645,  regretted  and 
respected. 


56 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


ALEXIS  (1645-1676) 

His  son  Alexis  was  similar  to  himself  in 
character,   but   of   superior   talents   in   war. 
Tall  and  commanding  in  appearance,  with  a 
sweet  smile  and  a  gentle  yet  manly  face, 
generous  to  a  fault,  possessed  of  feeUngs  so 
sensitive  that  he  never  inflicted  the  punish-  ^ 
ment  of  death  if  it  could  possibly  be  avoided  ;  * 
so  compassionate  that  he  would  send  money 
from  his  privy  purse  to  ameliorate  the  condi- 
tion of  captives  in  Siberia,  the  second  prince 
of  the  House  of  Romanoff  won  more  esteem 
than  even  his  father  had  done.     He  is  also 
stated  to  have  given  money  to  Charles  II 
when  he    was  a   wanderer.      Another  false 
Demetrius  certainly  sprung  up  against  him, 
but  he  met  with  no  encouragement,  although 
supported  by   Queen  Christina  of   Sweden, 
and  the  Strelitz  caught  and  hanged  him. 

THE   COSSACKS 

Alexis  was  drawn  into  a  foreign  war  which 
terminated  fortunately,  as  he  recovered  Smo- 
lensk for  Russia .  The  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine 
were  nominally  under  the  subjection  of  the 
King  of  Poland,  and  the  Polish  nobles,  desir- 
ing to  change  this  nominal  to  a  real  subjection 


THE   COSSACKS  57 

to  achieve  their  end,  began  to  tax  and  plunder 
them.     The  Cossacks  bore  it  patiently  for 
some   time,    but   the   last   straw    broke   the 
camel's  back  ;  the  King  of  Poland,  Cassimir, 
edged   on   by  the    Jesuits,    issued  a   decree 
commanding  them  to  renounce   the   Greek 
Church  and  become  Roman  Catholics.     In 
addition  to  this,  the  Hetman,  or  leader  of  the 
Cossacks,  labouring  under  a  false  accusation 
of  treason,  fled  to  the  Crimea.     While  there 
he  heaYd  that  his  house  had  been  destroyed, 
his  wife  so  maltreated  that  she  died,  even  his 
children  burnt  alive.    He  told  the  tale  of  his 
woes  with  such  effect  in  the  Crimea  that  he 
induced  some  forty  thousand  of  the  Tartars 
there  to  follow  him,  and  take  vengeance  on 
the  Poles.    At  the  same  time  the  Cossacks 
rose  en  masse,  and,  appeaUng  for  aid  to  Alexis, 
offered  to  transfer  their  tribute  and  oath  of 
allegiance  to  him  in  return  for  his  assistance. 
What  with  Russians,  and  Tartars,  and  Cos- 
sacks, John  Cassimir  and  his  Poles  were  hardly 
put  to  it  ;  although  by  bribery  they  induced 
the  Crimean  Tartars  to  return,  yet  the  Cos- 
sacks and  Russians  took  Smolensk  in  1654, 
at  which  time  Charles  X  of  Sweden,  who  had 
succeeded   Christina,    the    daughter   of   the 
illustrious  Gustavus,  joined  in,  and  a  savage 
war  was  waged  for  seven  years.    It  was  con- 


58 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


i  -^ 


eluded  by  the  Treaty  of  Andrassan,  which 
gave  to  Alexis  the  Dnieper  and  the  Ukraine 

beyond  it. 

In  1663  the  postal  service  was  insti- 
tuted. 

Also  another  treaty  in  1667  gave  many 
important  provinces  situated  between  Cour- 
land  and  Muscovy  to  Russia,  and  supremacy 
over  the  Cossacks,  who  have  ever  since  been 
dependent  on  her. 

But  this  supremacy  brought  on  a  civil  war. 
A  Russian  Governor  of  the  Don,  not  having 
sufficient  tact  to  understand  the  nature  of 
these    wild    tribes,    executed    one    of    their 
leaders.    Radzin,  his  brother,  instantly  com- 
menced   a    rebelUon    which    threatened    to 
assume    the    most    formidable    proportions, 
especially  as  he  was  joined  by  many  Russians 
who  were  discontented  at  the  treatment  of 
Nicon,  a  Patriarch  of  the  Church  and  formerly 
a  great  iavourite  of  Alexis,  who  had  revised 
the  Bible  but  had  lately  fallen  into  disgrace. 
The  united  forces  of  the  insurgents  amounted 
at  one  time  to  two  hundred  thousand  men, 
and  they  contemplated  a  complete  separation 
from  Russia,  Astrakhan  to  be  their  capital. 
Unfortunately  for  themselves  they  were  a 
mere   rabble— disorderly   and  ill-discipUned. 
Radzin  was  induced  to  go  to  Moscow,  on 


ALEXIS   DIES— PROGRESS       59 

some  suggestion  as  to  compromise  offered. 
When  there,  his  head  was  struck  off.  De- 
prived of  their  leader  his  army  fell  to  pieces, 
and  twelve  thousand  executions  soon  put 
everything  to  rights.  The  Emperor  was 
neither  privy  to  his  visit,  nor  to  the  scenes 
which  followed  it. 

In  1676  Alexis  got  ill,  and  insisted  on  being 
attended  by  some  old  Pohsh  woman— a 
quack.  He  died  in  consequence,  at  the  early 
age  of  forty-seven,  after  a  reign  of  thirty-one 
years,  as  regretted  and  beloved  as  his  father 
had  been. 

He  left  three  children  bv  his  first  wife. 
Maria— Feodor,  Ivan,  and  Sophia— and  one, 
Peter,  by  Natalia  Narishkina. 

Not  long  before  his  last  illness  the  first  ships 
were  constructed,  though  little  attention  was 
given  to  maritime  enterprise  till  Peter  the 
Great  built  a  navy.  A  code  of  laws,  still  pre- 
served, was  compiled  by  him,  which  bore  the 
name  of  Uloshenije.  Factories,  schools,  gal- 
leries and  warehouses  sprang  up  all  over 
Russia,  and  foreigners  flocked  from  Western 
Europe  to  work  them.  Mines  were  opened 
and  canals  dug  directly  men  saw  that  the 
state  of  the  Empire  was  such  that  there  was 
a  fair  chance  of  enjoying  the  fruits  of  tkeir 
labour — and  industry,  paralysed  during  the 


6o  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

ferocious  and  stormy  times,  now  advanced 
with  great  strides. 

FEODOR   III   (1676-1682) 

Feodor,  the  eldest  son  of  Alexis,  did  not 
enjoy  the   Imperial  dignity  long;    he   was 
delicate  and  sickly,  yet  during  the  six  years 
that  he  was  in  power  he  reformed  many 
abuses  in  the  civil  and  home  administration. 
The  leading  anecdote  related  of  him  is  his 
humbling  the  power  of  the  boyars,  whose 
hauteur  and  self-conceit  was  becoming  in- 
sufferable.    They  prided  themselves  on  the 
antiquity  of  their  patents  of  nobility  ;   none 
would  serve  under  another  whose  patent  was 
more  recent  than  his  own.    Feodor  ordered  a 
general  assembly  to  be  convened,  command- 
ing them  to  attend  with  these  patents,  which 
he  collected  into  a  heap  and  set  fire  to,  thus 
destroying  all  evidence  of  the  length  of  the 
titles.     This   step,   though   unpopular,   was 
most    judicious,    as    perpetual    dissensions 
amongst  the  peers  are  fatal  to  the  welfare  of 
an  Empire.     A  war  with  Turkey,  then  in  the 
zenith  of  her  power,  which  had  been  com- 
menced by  Alexis,  was  continued  by  Feodor. 
The   Turks  had   attacked   Poland   and   the 
Russians  assisted  the  Poles ;    but  the  Poles, 


FEODOR    III 


61 


led  by  John  Sobieski,  required  but  little 
aid  from  without  :  the  terrible  Mohammedans 
were  repulsed  and  a  truce  for  twenty  years 
agreed  upon.  The  character  of  Feodor  was 
not  unlike  that  of  Edward  VI  (of  England), 
but  though  so  sickly  he  governed  with  greater 
authority  than  Edward  did,  and  took  more 
energetic  measures.  He  was  amiable  in  dis- 
position, most  amiable,  and  ever  regardful  of 
the  good  of  his  subjects.  The  country  was 
blessed  with  peace  and  prosperity  while  he 
lived,  and  it  mourned  him  when  he  died. 

He  died  childless  in  1682,  having  married 
a  Polish  lady  much  against  the  will  of  the 
Church;  but  he  considered  that  selecting  a 
wife  from  the  native  stock  tended  to  check 
instead  of  to  encourage  the  intermixing  of  the 
Russians  with  other  nations.  It  had  been  the 
common  practice  in  Russia  for  the  Czar  to 
choose  a  wife  from  his  subjects ;  this,  perhaps, 
is  a  better  plan  than  insisting  on  royalty  inter- 
marrying with  royalty,  for  royal  families  are 
so  few  that  it  must  eventuate  in  those  of  the 
same  kin  mixing.  Ivan,  his  brother,  the  next 
son  of  Alexis  in  order  of  birth,  was  nearly 
blind  and  utterly  unfit  to  succeed  him  ;  nor 
was  he  inclined  to  do  so,  and  their  half  brother, 
Peter,  the  son  of  the  second  wife  of  Alexis, 
Natalia  Narishkina,  would  have  been  made 


62 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


PETER  THE  GREAT 


63 


I 


Czar  without  opposition  had  not  Sophia,  his 
sister,  prevented  it.  Witli  the  assistance  of 
Galitzin,  Feodor's  Prime  Minister,  she  con- 
trived to  have  herself  proclaimed  co-sovereign 
jointly  with  the  two  Czars,  and  she  and 
Galitzin  governed  between  them.  Their  first 
endeavour  was  to  try  to  eradicate  all  the 
better  qualities  in  the  mind  of  Peter,  who  was 
a  child,  and  thus  render  him  incapable  of  dis- 
placing them.  They  gave  him  many  and 
noisy  companions  to  addict  him  to  pleasure, 
and  render  him  averse  to  any  ideas  of  ambi- 
tion. But  the  princely  boy,  knowing  his 
sister  was  depriving  him  of  his  rightful  herit- 
age and  resolving  to  strain  every  nerve  to  get 
it  one  day  back,  trained  his  companions  as  a 
band  of  soldiers,  thus  initiating  himself  in 
childhood  to  the  art  of  war. 

Early  in  life  he  gave  signs  of  that  indomit- 
able perseverance  which  enabled  him  to  sub- 
due so  many  apparently  insuperable  diffi- 
culties, and,  in  spite  of  overwhelming  defeats 
and  disasters,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a 
mighty  Empire.  An  instance  of  this  per- 
severance is  shown  by  his  overcoming  his  fear 
of  water.  When  little  more  than  a  baby,  the 
carriage,  in  which  he  was  sleeping  on  his 
mother's  lap,  drove  over  a  bridge  under  which 
there  was  a  waterfall,  whose  rushing  sound 


terrified  him  so  exceedingly  that  afterwards 
the  sight  of  water  almost   threw  him  into 
convulsions  ;    yet  by  degrees  he  compelled 
himself  to  overcome  this,  and  not  only  became 
an  expert  swimmer,  but  made  Russia  a  naval 
power  and  spent  much  of  his  time  on  that 
element  on  which  none  of  his  predecessors 
had  ventured.     As  he  grew  older,  his  deter- 
mination  to    drive    Sophia    from   her   false 
position  became  more  apparent.     One  day, 
when  she  was  going  to  church,  attired  in  regal 
robes,  he  told  her  openly  she  had  no  right  to 
that  place.    Seeing  many  of  the  people  sided 
against  her,  she  organized  a  plot  to  assassinate 
him.     This  plot  was  detected.     After  some 
fighting,  and  bloodshed,  she  was  deposed  and 
immured  in  a  convent,  and  Peter  obtained 
possession    of   the    Government,    which    he 
swayed  with  such  renown  till  1725,  and  com- 
menced that  grasping  policy  which  has  sub- 
sequently  nearly   doubled   the   size   of   the 
Russian  Empire. 

PETER  THE   GREAT  (1682-I725) 

The  reign  of  Peter  the  Great  is  the  turning- 
point  of  the  history  of  Russia.  The  solidity 
and  strength  of  the  Empire  is  due  to  himself 
and  to  his  successors,  who  have  carried  on  the 


:i 


64 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


programme  he  framed.  S^gur  ViUebois  and 
others  unite  in  bestowing  lavish  praises  upon 
him,  and  consider  him  one  of  the  greatest 
Ughts  of  modern  days. 


i 


BEGINS   SHIPBUILDING 

His  first  work  was  to  give  Russia  a  navy. 
Walking  one  day  at  the  summer  palace  of 
Ismaelof ,  he  saw*'  an  old  EngUsh  shallop  half 
in  pieces.    ''  Why,"  he  asked  Timmermaim, 
a  German  who  was  instructing  him,  *'  is  it 
differently    built    from    the    boats    on    the 
Moskva  ?  "     *'  Because  it  goes  with  sails," 
was  the  reply.    Peter  wanted  to  make  a  trial 
of  it.    Brandt,  a  Dutch  shipwright,  was  sent 
for,  who  put  it  in  order.     A  stimulus  being 
thus  given  to  encourage  the  art  of  shipbuild- 
ing, Peter  had  several  vessels  made.     More- 
over, he  took  a  voyage  on  the  frozen  ocean, 
which  no  former  monarch  had  ever  seen.    He 
then  employed  Dutch  and  Venetian  carpenters, 
and  ships  of  all  descriptions  were  constructed 
on  the  Don.    The  object  of  building  them  in 
that  place  was  that  they  would  be  useful  m 
expeditions  to  crush  the  Crimean  Tartars  and 
to  fight  the  Turks,  for  Peter  was  resolved  to 
exterminate  the  enemies  who  for  so  long  had 

harassed  the  borders  of  his  Empire.    He  saw 


REFORMS   OF  PETER 


«S 


that  Russia  was  far  behind  other  European 
States  in  every  respect,  and  knew  that  she 
would  never  be  on  a  level  with  them  while 
liable  to  attacks  from  all  quarters.    A  navy 
was  necessary  for  her  protection ;   the  want 
of  it  had  prevented  intercourse  with  abroad, 
and  kept  her  in  a  state  of  barbarism  while 
other  nations  were  advancing  in  intelligence. 
The  visits  of  foreigners  were  the  only  stars  in 
her  night  of  ignorance,  although  it  was  not  an 
encouraging  country  for  foreigners  to  come 
to.    They  were  kept  under  a  perpetual  system 
of  espionage,  the  Russians  being  a  suspicious 
people.    They  were  often  inhospitably  treated, 
and  the  style  of  food,  ways  of  living,  and 
domestic  habits    of   the  Russians  generally 
were  not  of  a  nature  calculated  to  enhance  the 
comfort  of  any  visitor  from  another  country. 
To  reform  all  this,  Peter  set  to  work  with 
energy.     His  favourites  were  selected  from 
intelligent  foreigners.    Gordon,  a  Scotchman, 
commanded  the  army,  though  Le  Fort,  a 
Swiss,  his   principal   adviser,  was  nominally 
the  leader.     Peter's  object  was  to  change  it 
from  being  merely  a  large  assembly  of  peasants 
indifferently  armed,  to  a  body  like  the  disci- 
plined hosts  of  France  and  Germany.    With 
this  view  he  studied   European  languages, 
and  became  proficient  in  most  of  them  before 


I 


HI 


'Sl( 


66 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


he  was  twenty ;  thus,  obtaining  the  means  of 
access  to  works  on  miUtary  aifairs,  he  was 
enabled  to  plan  the  framework  of  the  con- 
struction of  a  large  and  well-trained  force. 
This  army  was  to  be  serviceable  for  other 
vast  ideas  which  he  cherished.  His  country 
was  an  inland  one,  and  had,  consequently, 
none  of  the  advantages  which  nations  with 
an  extensive  seaboard  possess.  But  at  mighty 
distances  lay  the  Caspian,  the  Baltic,  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  Euxine.  Could  he  but 
extend  his  dominions  to  the  shores  of  all  these 
seas,  what  a  nation  might  Russia  become — 
and  thus  projects  of  ambition  and  territorial 
extension  opened  to  this  enterprising  man, 
projects  in  which  he  and  his  successors  have 
so  determinedly  persevered,  projects  to  whose 
reahzation  he  devoted  all  his  intellect — all  his 
brain — all  those  powers  which  God  had  given 
him  :  powers  which  God  gives  but  to  few  ! — 
the  head  to  scheme,  the  determination  to 
achieve,  the  resolution  which  no  disaster 
daunts,  the  courage  which  quails  at  no  peril, 
no  hardship  destroys,  the  self-denial  which 
will  put  up  with  anything  to  forward  the 
one  grand  purpose — the  will  which  shapes 
that  of  thousands  to  its  own  ends  ;  in  short, 
the  gifts  of  the  great— the  gifts  of  Sylla,  of 
Caesar,  and  of  Napoleon. 


I 


f 


PETER   UNPOPULAR 


SIEGE   OF  AZOV 


67 


His  first  exploit  was  a  success.    It  was  the 
Siege  of  Azov.    The  Turks,  fighting  with  the 
Poles  and  Germany,  were  scarcely  in  a  condi- 
tion to  resist  a  large  expedition  ;  so  war  was 
declared  against  them,  and  Azov  blockaded. 
After  some  resistance  it  capitulated.     Peter 
celebrated  a  triumph,  and  then  resolved  to 
visit  Europe  to  view  civihzation  in  its  matured 
state  and  bring  the  germs  of  it  home.     His 
going  was  very  unpopular,  and  nearly  cost 
him  his  life.    His  encouragement  to  foreigners, 
and   endeavours   to   convert    Russia  into  a 
European  instead  of  an  Asiatic  Power,  as  she 
had  been  under  the  Ruriks,  his  attempts  to 
break  up  the  old  customs  and  enUghten  the 
Empire  against  its  will,  and  his  introducing 
European  officers  and  the  European  system 
to  the  army,  had  given  deep  offence  to  his 
subjects,  and  now  an  avowed  declaration  to 
desert  his  Empire  for  that  West  of  which  they 
were  so  jealous  made  the  discontent  reach  its 
culminating  point  :    a  plot  was  hatched  by 
the  Strelitz  to  dethrone  him  and  place  Sophia 
again  on  the  throne.    On  its  being  revealed, 
as  plots  so  often  are,  Peter  arranged  with  his 
guards  to  surround  the  house  where  the  con- 
spirators were  plotting.     But  his  eagerness 


' 


I  > 


68 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


carried  him  there  before  their  arrival,  and  he 
found  himself  alone  in  a  room  with  the  very 
men  who  were  planning  his  destruction.  But 
his  presence  of  mind  did  not  forsake  him. 
'*  Seeing  a  light,"  he  began,  ''  I  thought  a 
banquet  was  going  on,  and  I  came  to  share." 
The  traitors,  recovering  their  surprise,  drank 
with  their  monarch  ;  but  soon  looks  and  signs 
were  exchanged.  ''  Is  it  time  ?  "  whispered 
one.  ''  Not  yet,"  was  the  answer.  Then  Peter 
heard  the  tramp  of  soldiers  below,  and  rising 
up  he  smote  the  speaker  to  the  ground,  shout- 
ing :  ''  If  it  is  not  time  for  you,  scoundrel,  it 
is  for  me."  The  guards  rushed  in— the 
assassins  were  secured,  and  the  conspiracy 
crushed.  A  terrible  vengeance,  typical  of  the 
ferocity  of  Russian  character,  native  even  in 
the  best  of  her  monarchs,  was  the  sequel. 

HE   VISITS   EUROPE 

The  train  which  visited  Europe  consisted  of 
about  two  hundred  persons,  Le  Fort  being  its 
leader  and  the  Czar  himself  going  as  a  private 
individual.  Never  before  had  a  Russian  ruler 
thrown  aside  that  ostentation  and  pomp  so 
loved  by  semi-barbarian  monarchs,  or  never 
had  any  one  of  them  left  their  dominions 
except  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and  bent  on 


PETER   IN   ENGLAND 


69 


some  errand  of  war.  The  people  did  not  know 
what  to  make  of  this  strange  conduct — ^in  any 
case  they  did  not  like  it. 


CROSSES   TO   ENGLAND 

At  Amsterdam  Peter  worked  in  the  dock- 
yards like  a  common  carpenter ;  and  while 
his  retinue  were  living  in  splendour,  he  took 
up  his  abode  in  a  workman's  hut.  In  1698 
he  crossed  over  to  England,  and  in  addition 
to  shipbuilding  studied  mathematics,  as- 
tronomy, watch-making,  and  engineering. 
When  there  he  continued  the  same  style  of 
living,  taking  little  lodgings  at  Deptford.  At 
one  time,  too,  he  was  residing  at  Mr.  Evelyn's 
house,  as  we  learn  from  the  well-known  diary. 
When  he  went  away  William  III  made  him  a 
present  of  his  yacht,  in  which  he  took  back  a 
little  army  of  artificers  and  craftsmen.  In 
return  he  gave  the  English  king  a  magnificent 
diamond,  which  he  presented  wrapped  in  a 
piece  of  dirty  brown  paper. 

His  stay  in  Germany  was  cut  short  by 
another  plot,  instituted  by  the  StreUtz.  He 
hastened  home,  crushed  the  confederacy,  and 
abolished  the  Strelitz  corps  altogether — which 
had  been  his  intention  for  some  time,  and  he 
had  now  an  excellent  excuse.    His  vengeance 


i'l 


■iii.i 


70 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


on  the  originators  of  the  plot  again  assumed 
a  character  of  frightful  ferocity. 


HOME    REFORMS 

He  then  busied  himself  with  reform.  The 
success  with  which  he  carried  it  out  is  in- 
dicative of  the  greatness  of  his  character,  for 
almost  every  measure  he  proposed  was  un- 
popular and  distasteful  to  the  people.  Even 
that  most  dangerous  and  difficult  task,  viz. 
the  reformation  of  the  Church,  was  accom- 
plished with  ease  by  him.  He  abolished 
celibacy  in  the  clergy,  took  from  them  the 
power  of  capital  punishment  which  they  had 
enjoyed  for  ages,  abohshed  the  dignity  of 
patriarch,  added  its  revenues  to  the  military 
chest,  and  reduced  the  number  of  con- 
vents. He  also  regulated  the  calendar, 
making  the  year  begin  on  January  ist, 
and  not  September  ist,  as  hitherto  ;  insisted 
upon  an  entire  change  of  dress  amongst  all  the 
people,  compeUing  them  to  cut  off  their  beards 
and  abandon  their  Asiatic  costume,  adopting 
the  European  model ;  established  observa- 
tories, roads,  post-offices,  engineering  works, 
theatres,  even  the  much-abused  practice  of 
smoking — this  last,  probably,  not  because  of 
the  merits  of  the  habit  itself,  but  in  unison 


( 


I 


d 


li 


I 


ALLIANCE   WITH   POLAND      71 

with  his  scheme  of  avowed  enmity  to  ignor- 
ance and  superstition ;  for  the  priests  had  for- 
bidden smoking,  considering  it  an  unclean 
and  sinful  habit,  and  connecting  it  with  the 
idea  of  hell.  In  short,  he  did  his  best  to  make 
Russia  like  the  lands  he  had  travelled  through, 
conferring  thereby,  though  against  her  will, 
immortal  benefits  on  his  country.  On  the 
death  of  Charles  XI  of  Sweden,  and  the 
accession  of  his  son,  a  boy,  Peter  saw  an  oppor- 
tunity of  recovering  the  provinces  of  Ingria 
and  Carelia,  which  had  formerly  belonged  to 
Russia  but  had  been  wrested  from  her  in  the 
time  of  the  false  Demetrius.  Accordingly  he 
concluded  an  alliance  with  Poland,  and  laid 
siege  to  Narva.  But  his  army,  though  large, 
was  not  entirely  composed  of  disciphned 
troops,  and  he  found  it  difficult  to  compete 
on  equal  terms  with  the  Swedes. 


WAR  WITH   SWEDEN 

^  Charles  XII  of  Sweden,  though  only 
eighteen,  was  not  of  a  nature  likely  to  be 
daunted  by  the  number  of  his  enemies,  or, 
indeed,  by  anything.  He  soon  startled  the 
world  by  the  display  of  surprising  military 
talents,  and  an  unbounded  ambition  which 
induced  him  to  turn  a  defensive  warfare  into 


I 


72 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


] 


an  aggressive  one.  Having  beaten  the  Danes, 
in  the  middle  of  winter  he  advanced  against 
the  Russians.  His  operations  were  crowned 
with  success  ;  in  a  few  months  Peter's  army 
was  driven  off  the  field,  and  Charles  might 
have  dictated  terms  at  Moscow  itself  had  not 
he  preferred  directing  his  attention  to  the 
Poles.  In  the  meantime,  Peter  raised  more 
troops  and  attacked  the  Swedes  again.  In 
1702  he  won  a  battle  at  Einbach  and  captured 
Marienburg.  Amongst  the  prisoners  taken 
was  a  peasant  girl,  Catherine,  the  widow  of  a 
soldier  who  had  been  killed  in  the  defence  of 
the  town.  She  was  Peter's  future  consort, 
and  destined  to  be  one  day  Empress  of  all  the 
Russias.  There  is  scarcely  any  other  instance 
in  history  of  an  obscure  captive  becoming 
Empress  of  the  Empire  to  which  she  was  led 
in  chains.  Noteburg  was  next  attacked  and 
taken  with  great  difficulty,  although  the 
Swedish  garrison  was  much  reduced.  "  We 
can  beat  the  Swedes  at  two  to  one,"  said 
Peter.  *'  Let  us  persevere,  and  we  may  one 
day  beat  them  on  equal  terms."  The  capture 
of  Noteburg  was  of  some  importance  as  it  was 
on  the  Neva,  and  a  key  to  the  Baltic.  Peter 
appreciated  its  importance— he  changed  its 
name  to  Schlusselberg  (Schlussel,  a  key).  He 
also  took  a  fortress  more  important  still — 


ST.  PETERSBURG   FOUNDED    73 

Nientschanty,  and  began  to  build  a  town 
there.  That  town  was  Petersburg,  the  present 
capital  of  Russia,  called  since  1914  Petrograd. 
His  ships  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  his 
successes.  They  were  often  engaged  in 
combats  with  Swedish  vessels,  and  did  not 
come  off  badly.  The  King  of  Sweden  was, 
however,  not  present  in  person  ;  with  the 
bulk  of  his  army  he  was  gaining  repeated 
successes  over  Augustus  of  Poland,  whom  he 
resolved  to  dethrone  before  again  attacking 
the  Czar.  But  by  his  absence  he  had  allowed 
Peter  to  obtain  his  main  object — an  acquisi- 
tion of  vital  importance  in  the  history  of 
Europe,  and  wWch  was  the  beginning  of 
Russia's  being  considered  one  of  the  great 
Powers — viz.  getting  a  seaboard  and  a  footing 
on  the  Baltic. 


FOUNDATION   OF   ST.    PETERSBURG 

Peter  set  to  work  about  building  the  town 
which  took  his  name,  and  which  is  now  the 
fourth  city  in  Europe,  with  wonderful  alacrity. 
In  a  year's  time  forty  thousand  houses  were 
made  ;  there  were  wharfs,  canals,  and  bridges, 
and,  what  was  more  important,  on  the  Uttle 
island  of  Cronslot  and  on  another,  Ostrof, 
formidable  defences. 


i  t 


} 


74 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


The   Swedes   were   much  surprised   when 
they  saw  fortifications  and  bastions  where  a 
few  months  ago  a  swampy  morass  alone  had 
been.    On  the  27th  May,  1703,  the  first  stone 
of  the  future  city  was  laid,  and  by  the  end  of 
that  year  it  was  a  fortified  town  of  consider- 
able size.     Too  great  praise  cannot  be  given 
to  the  judgment  which  selected  the  site,  nor 
to  the  determination  which  accompUshed,  in 
time  of  war,  a  work  which  usually,  in  a  time 
of  peace,  would  have  occupied  a  much  longer 
period.    Obstacles  of  all  kinds  had  to  be  com- 
bated with.     The  soil  was  so  unhealthy  that 
ten  thousand  workmen  perished  during  the 
building  ;  the  amount  of  drainage  which  had 
to    be    done    was   incredible.      The    people, 
especially    the    boyars,    heard    with    great 
irritation  that  a  new  town  on  a  dreary  sea 
waste,  cold,  and  half  the  year  blocked  with 
ice,  was  to  be  made  the  capital ;   also  at  the 
most  undesirable  extremity  of  the  Empire, 
in  a  place,  in  fact,  which  had  only  recently 
belonged  to  them,   and   which  they  might 
again  at  any  moment  lose,  and  that  they  were 
to  live  there  and  be  turned  into  sailors  and 
navigators. 

However,  Peter  was  resolved  upon  it,  and 
so,  against  their  incUnations  and  for  the  good 
of  their  descendants,  a  large  part  of  an  inland 


CHARLES  XII  DESPISES  PETER  75 

people  were  turned  to  some  extent  into  a 
maritime  one.  When  the  new  town  was  in  a 
fair  state  of  defence,  the  attack  on  Narva  was 
renewed.  Charies  XII  sent  little  help  to  the 
town,  occupied  as  he  was  in  deposing  the  King 
of  Poland.  He  occasionally  looked  that  way, 
and  then  only  with  scorn  at  what  Peter  was 
doing.  "  Let  him  build  his  mud  huts,"  he 
said,  ''  we  will  come  and  set  fire  to  them  one 
day." 

FALL  OF   NARVA 

Dorfut  was  taken  by  a  stratagem.  Peter 
had  dressed  up  some  of  his  soldiers  like 
Swedes,  and  when  they  pretended  to  attack 
the  others,  the  garrison,  thinking  that  relief 
had  arrived,  made  a  sally ;  then  both  the 
seeming  friends  and  foes  fell  upon  them,  and 
the  town  was  taken.  Soon  after  Narva  itself 
fell.  When  Charles  heard  of  this,  in  anger  he 
vowed  that  a  few  months  would  find  him  in 
Moscow,  and  he  would  dethrone  Peter  as  he 
had  dethroned  his  aUy  Augustus.  ''  So  my 
brother  of  Sweden  thinks  himself  Alexander," 
said  Peter.  ''  But,  anyhow,  he  shall  find  that 
I  am  not  Darius." 


76 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


PETER  ASSISTS  THE   POLES 


I 


He  entered  into  a  new  treaty  with  Augustus 
and  sent  large  forces  to  assist  him.  With 
united  armies,  amounting  to  nearly  three 
hundred  thousand  men,  they  commenced 
operations.  But  Charles  carried  all  before 
him.  Peter  was  defeated  at  Gemaurs  and 
again  at  Jacobstad,  and  then  called  back  to 
Russia  by  a  revolution  in  Astrakhan.  Augustus 
endeavoured  to  make  terms  with  the  con- 
queror, for  he  was  wearied  by  his  ill-success  ; 
he  could  make  no  head  himself  against  the 
enemy,  and  the  Russian  armies  which  pro- 
tected him  were  worsted  in  every  encounter 
as  well.  He  agreed  to  relinquish  all  claim  to 
the  crown  of  Poland,  and  even  to  deliver  up 
the  Czar's  Ambassador,  a  general  of  the 
Russian  army,  who  had  been  fighting  for  him. 
Although,  while  the  matter  was  in  treaty  and 
not  yet  concluded,  the  Russians  gained  a 
victory  at  Kalish — the  first  they  had  won — 
over  one  of  Charles'  generals,  yet  Augustus 
proceeded  with  the  agreement,  and  even 
begged  the  pardon  of  the  Swedish  general, 
Maderfield,  for  his  allies  having  beaten  him. 
He  also  deUvered  up  the  Ambassador,  who 
was  broken  alive  on  the  wheel  at  Casimer — an 
indeUble  stain  on  the  illustrious  memory  of 


SUCCESSES  OF  CHARLES  XII     77 

Charles,  for  that  prince,  in  spite  of  his  many 
virtues,  was  capable  sometimes  of  great 
acts  of  cruelty,  of  which  the  following  fact 
is  another  instance.  In  advancing  through 
Massovia  six  thousand  peasants  disputed  his 
passage,  deputing  one  of  their  body  first  to 
address  him.  This  was  an  old  man  of  gigantic 
stature,  clad  in  white,  and  armed  with  two 
carbines.  The  Swedes,  not  understanding 
what  he  said,  fell  upon  him  and  killed  him, 
even  in  the  presence  of  their  king;  where- 
upon the  peasants  rose  in  arms.  Charles 
seized  upon  all  he  could  and  compelled  them 
to  hang  one  another  ;  when  there  was  but  one 
left  he  was  forced  to  hang  himself. 

Having  finished  the  campaign  in  Poland, 
Charles  resolved  to  invade  Russia  and  dictate 
terms  to  Peter  at  Moscow.  Two  attempts 
have  been  made  in  the  history  of  the  world  to 
traverse  the  dreary  wastes  which  separate  the 
Russian  capital  from  the  rest  of  Europe  ;  both 
have  been  made  by  renowned  commanders 
at  the  head  of  magnificently  trained  and 
veteran  armies,  accustomed  to  a  long  course 
of  victory,  and  both  failed  disastrously — 
robbed  the  monarchs  who  attempted  them  of 
the  fruits  of  uninterrupted  conquest,  and, 
finally,  occasioned  their  downfall. 

The  fame  of  Charles  had  now  spread  through 


78 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Europe.  France  endeavoured  to  court  his 
friendship  as  an  ally  against  Austria,  and 
persuade  him  to  make  peace  with  the  Czar, 
but  to  no  avail. 


CHARLES   XII   INVADES   RUSSIA 

At  the  head  of  eighty  thousand  men  he 
entered  Grodno,  Peter  flying  before  him.  He 
had  already  taken  three  capitals,  and  was  on 
the  high  road  towards  a  fourth.  But  he  did 
not  reckon  on  the  impracticable  nature  of  the 
country  or  the  craftiness  of  its  defenders. 
Peter,  knowing  he  was  no  match  for  Charles 
in  the  field,  resolved  to  draw  him  into  the 
heart  of  the  Empire,  where  he  could  obtain 
no  supplies  for  his  army,  and  where  the 
greater  part  must  perish  if  compelled  to 
remain  during  the  winter.  Charles,  like 
Napoleon  a  hundred  years  later,  disregarded 
these  obstacles,  and,  flushed  with  victory, 

came  on. 

His  chief  advisers,  Levenhaupt  and  Patkul, 
two  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  century,  en- 
deavoured to  dissuade  him,  but  he  would 
listen  to  no  advice.  The  result  of  this  un- 
happy campaign  can  be  imagined  !  The  brave 
Swedes,  in  the  inclement  season,  marching 
through  deserts,  wastes,  and  forests,  exposed 


EVENTS  LEADING  TO  PULTOVA  79 

to  ceaseless  attacks  from  the  enemy  and  to  the 
pitiless  cold,  perished  by  hundreds.  In  spite 
of  one  or  two  brilliant  victories  their  situation 
became  more  desperate  every  day,  for  these 
victories  were  worse  to  them  than  defeats. 

Levenhaupt  with  ten  thousand  men  beat 
forty  thousand  Russians,  but  he  lost  his  pro- 
visions and  artillery,  which  he  was  obliged  to 
abandon  ;   the  Dnieper  was  crossed  success- 
fully m  the  face  of  a  most  furious  attack,  and 
terrible  loss  was  inflicted  on  the  enemy,'  but 
its  passage  still  put  Charles  further  from  all 
supplies.    Again,  like  Napoleon,  the  hand  of 
fate  seemed  upon  him,  and  his  unaccountably 
strange  conduct  goes  to  prove  the  truth  of  the 
saying  that  the  gods  first  blind  those  they 
resolve  to  ruin.     He  agreed  to  meet  Leven- 
haupt, whom  he  had  sent  back  to  Livonia  for 
supplies— on  a  certain  day  at  Siesna,  but  he 
forgot  all  about  it— and  Levenhaupt,  on  arriv- 
ing at  the  rendezvous,  was  attacked  by  an 
enemy  greatly  superior,  as  above  detailed 
and  lost  the  very  things  he  was  going  to  bring 
to  Charles. 

Poland  was  in  arms,  directly  his  back  was 
turned,  against  Stanislaus,  whom  he  had  placed 
on  the  throne,  and  Peter,  in  spite  of  the  in- 
vasion of  his  country  and  his  repeated  defeats 
was  still  strong  enough  to  send  troops  to  assist! 


1  i 


f 


80  RUSSIA'S  STORY 

The  winter,  as  in  1812.  was  one  of  the  most 
severe  known  for  years  ;  the  Cossacks  of  the 
Ukraine,  whom  Charles  had  expected  to  ]om 
him  were  not  much  incMned  to  do  so,  and  yet. 
in  spite  of  every  warning,  nature  and  man  on 
all  sides  hostile,  the  infatuated  Prince  and  his 
devoted  army  pressed  on. 

BATTLE   OF   PULTOVA  (1709) 

The  result  is  familiar  to  students  of  history. 
Encircled  in  a  web  in  the  ill-fortified  town  of 
Pultova,  he  was  obliged  to  give  battle  at  a 
disadvantage,  and  that  at  a  time  when  his 
soldiers  were  without  even  sufficient  powder 
and  shot.  After  fighting  desperately,  and 
performing  prodigies  of  valour,  the  Swedish 
army,  now  reduced  to  twenty-seven  thousand 
men,  was  defeated,  six  thousand  were  slain, 
and  fourteen  thousand  surrendered. 

ITS  RESULTS 

That  day  reversed  the  verdict  of  a  hundred 
victories.  Once  more,  Uke  Napoleon,  Charles, 
with  a  small  escort,  escaped  to  Bender,  leaving 
his  military  chest,  artiUery— in  fact  every- 
thing—in the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Sir  Edward 
Creasy  justly  considers  this  one  of  the  most 


BATTLE   OF   PULTOVA  81 

decisive  battles  of  the  world.  Had  Charles 
won,  Russia  would  have  been  flung  back  to 
her  anaent  barbarism,  from  which  Ihe  never 
might  have  emerged,  and  all  that  Peter 
achieved  for  her  would  have  been  undone 
He  said  himself,  directly  he  was  assured  of 
victory,  that  the  foundations  of  St.  Petersburg 
now  stood  firm.  ^ 

By  the  result  of  Pultova,  Sweden  as  a  great 
Power  was  crushed,  and  Russia  rose  on  her 
ruins.  From  that  day  she  held  a  place  among 
European  nations,  and  commenced  the  aggres- 
sive policy  she  has  ever  since  pursued.  Few 
regre     that   Hannibal   lost   Zama,    or   tZ 

pity  that  Charles  lost  Pultova.    Had  he  won 
there  probably  might  still  have  been  a  greS 
Scandinavian  power  in  the  north ;    but  as 
Germany  has  since  become  so  powerful    it 
would  scarcely  be  well  for  Europe  to  h^ve 
another  first-class  nation  of  the  same  rale 
close  by  her.    Sir  de  Lacy  Evans,  in  his  Des^s 
o/tei«,  and  others  who  deplored  the  results 
of  the  victory    wrote  long  before  Germany 
had  become  umted,  and  when  Russia  appeared 
more  formidable  than  she  does  now     In  anv 
case  Charles  had  nobody  but  himself  to  thank 
for  his  disaster.    The  utter  want  of  judgment 
he  showed  m  persistently  pressing  fofwaS 

G 


I 


82  RUSSIA'S  STORY 

appears  inconceivable ;  it  could  only  have  been 
actuated  by  a  bUnd  faith  in  his  own  good 
fortune,  or' an  unjustified  contempt  for  lus 
adversary.      Yet  so  great  was  his  prestige 
that,  until  certain  news  of  his  defeat  came  all 
the  world  thought  he  would  wm.     He  has 
often  been  compared  to  Alexander  and  Peter 
to  Philip.    As  above  mentioned   Peter  once 
made  the  comparison.    Latrille  docs  not  go 
so  far,  he  merely  says  that  Charles  was  worthy 
to  have  been  the  first  soldier  of  Alexander 
But,  excepting  that  they  resembled  each  other 
in  want  of  caution  and  recklessness,  there 
seems  to  be  no  other  grounds  for  the  compari- 
son.    The  comparison  of  Peter  to  Phihp  is 
much  more  appropriate.     Similar  m  pohcy 
and  statecraft,  similar  in  foresight  and  pre- 
vision-equally  attentive  to  the  thousand  and 
one  little  things  without  which  true  greatness 
is  never  complete— the  Macedonian  monarch 
and  the  Muscovite  Czar  both  triumphed  over 
their  enemies,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
supremacy  of  their  respective  countries.    Sir 
Edward  Creasy  also  draws  attention  to  the 
similitude  between  the  conduct  of  Russia 
after  Pultova,  which  put  her  in  a  position  to 
be  the  oppressor  instead  of  the  oppressed, 
and  that  of  ancient   Rome.     He  says  the 
scheme  of  extension  of  dominion  by  both  has 


ACQUISITIONS  BY  RUSSIA      83 

been  by  first  appearing  in  the  character  of 
the  protector  of  various  nationalities,   and 
then  when  opportunity  offered,  by  absorbing 
them.    It  is  true  that  the  gradual  annexations 
which  have  vastly  magnified  the  size  of  Russia 
— in  fact,  more  than  doubled  it — ^have  dated 
from  the  time  of  Peter's  accession.    Livonia, 
Ingria,    Carelia,    Esthonia,   her   fairest   pro- 
vinces,   have    been   wrested   from   Sweden. 
Almost  the  whole  kingdom  of  Poland  may  be 
said  to  be  hers,  and  we  read  from  The  Progress 
of  Russia  in  the  East  that  her  acquisitions 
from  Turkey  are  larger  than  Germany,  from 
Persia  than  England,  from  Tartary  than  half 
Europe,  and  from  Sweden  more  than  is  left 
to  that  ancient  monarchy,  and  that  in  sixty- 
four  years  she  had  advanced  her  frontier 
850  miles  towards  the  central  capitals,  450 
towards  Constantinople,   and   within  a  few 
from  the  capital  of  Sweden,  from  which  last, 
when  Peter  the  Great  mounted  the  throne, 
it   was   distant    more   than    three    hundred 
miles. 

On  the  news  of  Pultova  becoming  known, 
the  Elector  of  Saxony  re-entered  Poland. 
Stanislaus  was  soon  deposed,  and  Frederick 
Augustus  enjoyed  his  own  again.  Denmark 
then  claimed  Schonen,  Prussia  claimed 
Pomerania,  and  the  Lion  of  the  North  would 


hi 


84 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


have  been  rent  to  pieces  but  for  the  inter- 
position of  the  Empire  and  the  mantime 
Powers.    The  campaign  with  Sweden,  and  the 
life  and  death  struggle  from  which  Russia 
through  the  prudence  of  her  Czar,  emerged 
victorious,  was  the  chief  event  in  Peters 
reign.    His  increased  importance  after  it  was 
won  is  illustrated  by  the  following  incident. 
The  Russian  Ambassador  in  London  had  been 
arrested  for  debt,  and  although  he  was  soon 
released,   Peter,  when  he  heard  of  it,  was 
furious  at  the  indignity  offered  to  the  repre- 
sentative of  himself.     The  legality  of  the 
arrest  was  dubious,  and  an  Act  was  passed 
shortly  after  declaring  the  persons  of  Am- 
bassadors sacred.     But  Peter  was  far  from 
satisfied  at  this ;   he  demanded  the  instant 
execution   of   the   culprits.      Queen   Anne  s 
Government  repUed  that  England  was  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy,  and  the  sovereign  had 
no  power  to  touch  even  the  hair  of  the  head 
of  any  of  her  subjects,  unless  by  permission 
of  the  law  ;  and  here  the  matter  rested.   How- 
ever, after  the  battle  of  Pultova  the  Enghsh 
Government  sent  him  a  copy  of  the  Act. 
beautifully  framed,  and  an  apology,  clearly 
showing  thereby  that  they  thought  him  a  far 
more   important  member  of  the   European 
family   than   before.     Peter    celebrated    a 


PERIL  OF  PETER  IN  TURKEY  85 

magnificent  triumph,  in  which  procession, 
as  captives,  walked  the  illustrious  Levenhaupt 
and  Rcnschiold. 

WAR  WITH   TURKEY 

Peter  then  turned  his  attention  to  pacific 
arts,  in  which  he  was  soon  interrupted  by  a 
war   with   the   Turks.     Charles  had  taken 
refuge  with  the  Sultan,  whom  he  did  his 
utmost  to  induce  to  assist  him  against  the 
Czar.     But  the  Sultan,  although  bribed  by 
the  gold  taken  from  Charles'  own  military 
chest— the  plunder  of  Poland  and  Saxony— 
for  a  long  while  would  not.    However,  in  the 
end  Charles  was  successful,  war  was  declared, 
and  the  Russian  Ambassador  committed  to 
the  Seven  Towers.    This  was  a  curious  pro- 
ceeding ;  but  the  Turks  considered  that  every 
war  they  made  was  a  just  one.  and  that  their 
opponents  being  in  the  wrong,  and  having 
incurred  the  wrath  of  Heaven,   should  be 
punished  individually  as  well  as  collectively. 
Peter  took  the  initiative  and  advanced  to  the 
northern  bank  of  the  Pruth,  but  not  being 
supported  by  the  Moldavians,  on  whom  he 
had  rehed.  he  was  surrounded  by  the  Turks 
and  placed  in  a  position  of  extreme  peril. 

In  fury  and  despair  he  locked  himself  in  his 
tent,  resolving  the  next  morning  to  attempt 


86 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


to  cut  through.  Though  success  was  more 
than  doubtful,  yet  he  would  not  be  taken 
prisoner.  He  had  ordered  none  to  approach 
him  ;  and  none  dare  do  so  save  one,  Catherine, 
his  wife,  whose  voice  had  power  to  charm  him 
and  bring  him  to  reason  even  in  his  most 
savage  moments.  She  suggested  negotiation, 
and  he  listened.  The  Grand  Vizier,  unwilling 
to  drive  thirty-five  thousand  men  to  extremi- 
ties, granted  a  truce,  much  to  the  chagrin  of 
Charles,  and  at  the  price  of  the  restoration  of 
Azoff  and  the  demolition  of  certain  forts. 


DEATH    OF   CHARLES    XII 

The  war  with  Sweden  was  continued,  and  a 
naval  victory  (the  first  ever  gained  by  Russia) 
was  won  in  1714.  The  state  of  that  kingdom 
became  so  desperate  that  Charles  was  induced 
to  return,  and  in  1715  he  defended  Stralsund 
with  marvellous  address  against  the  Danes, 
Saxons,  and  Prussians.  With  his  former 
genius  he  also  won  several  victories  over  the 
Russians,  and  might  have  wrested  from  Peter 
some  of  his  acquisitions  had  not  one  night, 
at  the  siege  of  Fredericshal,  when  the  ground 
was  like  iron  and  the  cold  so  great  that  the 
soldiers  on  duty  often  dropped  down  dead, 
a  cannon-ball  from  the  ramparts  struck  him 


CHARLES   Xll   AND   PETER     87 

as  he  was  going  to  view  their  defences  by  star- 
light. He  died  as  he  had  Uved,  with  his  sword 
(a  fitting  emblem  of  his  career)  in  his  hand. 
Dazzled  by  his  military  achievements,  he  has 
transmitted  to  posterity  greater  renown  than 
he  deserved.  Except  in  the  art  of  war  he  was 
in  no  way  Peter's  equal.  The  one  found 
Sweden  great,  and  stripped  and  ruined  it. 
The  other  found  Russia  in  barbarism  and 
darkness,  and  made  it  a  first-rate  Power. 
The  death  of  Charles  was  the  signal  for  peace, 
and  the  Treaty  of  Nystadt  was  completed. 

Peter  was  formally  acknowledged  Emperor 
by  all  the  European  Powers.  He  had  now 
arrived  at  the  pinnacle  of  his  glory,  and  had 
leisure  to  prosecute  his  ideas  of  civil  advance- 
ment. After  interfering  in  the  affairs  of 
Persia,  for  which  he  received  the  provinces  of 
Ghilan,  Mayanderin,  and  Astrabad,  on  the 
Caspian,  he  paid  a  visit  to  France,  where  he 
persuaded  several  artists  to  follow  him  back 
and  settle  in  Russia.  He  initiated  the  factory 
system  and  developed  native  manufacturing 
industry,  but  he  did  nothing  to  alleviate  the 
disabiUties  of  the  serf  population  or  instil 
popular  appreciation  of  the  advantages  of 
agriculture.  However,  he  estabUshed  a  board 
of  trade,  had  the  great  canal  completed  which 
joins  the  Caspian  to  the  Baltic,  remodelled 


88 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


the  courts  of  law,  and  devoted  himself  with 
the  energy  he  had  displayed  before  he  was  in- 
terrupted by  the  war  with  Sweden,  to  civilize 
his  people. 

But  still  he  could  not  civilize  himself.  He 
was  unfathful  to  his  first  wife,  Eudoxia,  to 
whom  he  was  at  first  much  attached,  and  on 
their  becoming  alienated  he  banished  her  to 
Ladoga,  where  she  remained  till  recalled  by 
Peter  II,  her  grandson,  who  wished  to  place 
her  on  the  throne  again.  She  died  in  1731. 
He  was  capable  of  the  grossest  and  most  cruel 
acts  in  fits  of  passion,  and  sometimes  even 
with  premeditation.  His  putting  to  death 
Alexis,  the  heir  to  the  throne,  who  was  his 
only  son  by  his  first  wife,  will  ever  disgrace 
his  memory.  No  doubt  the  Prince  was  dis- 
sipated, worthless,  and  of  a  character  likely 
to  incur  the  disgust  of  so  superior  a  man  as 
his  father.  Still,  scarcely  any  conduct  short 
of  an  attempt  at  patricide  could  warrant  a 
father  in  allowing  sentence  of  death  to  be 
passed  on  his  son.  It  was  proved  that  the 
Prince  had  wished  his  father's  death,  but  he 
had  committed  no  act  to  accelerate  it.  The 
influence  of  Catherine  over  Peter  was  so  great 
that  the  real  reason,  most  Ukely,  was  that  he 
wished  her  infant  to  succeed  ;  in  addition, 
the  prospect  of  having  a  successor  who  would 


DEATH   OF   PETER 


89 


undo  all  the  good  he  had  done  must  indeed 
have  been  distasteful  to  him.  Her  influence 
was  wonderful,  especially  considering  the 
lowly  condition  from  which  he  had  raised  her, 
and  that  her  previous  character  was  not  free 
from  stain;  for  not  only  had  she  been  his 
mistress,  but  that  of  one  of  his  generals; 
indeed  that  she,  the  widow  of  a  common 
soldier,  a  mere  camp  follower,  should  become 
the  lawful  consort  and  most  influential 
adviser  of  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  re- 
markable men  the  world  has  ever  produced, 
and  finally  the  ruler  of  a  mighty  Empire, 
seems  incredible.  For  in  1721,  Peter  issued 
a  ukase  (afterwards  cancelled  by  Paul)  that  a 
Sovereign  should  have  the  power  of  naming 
his  successor,  and  on  January  28th  he  died, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-three,  naming  his  successor 
to  be  Catherine. 

CATHERINE  I  (1725-I727) 

On  his  death  she  swayed  Russia  alone  ;  and 
though  some  reports  state  that  she  fell  into 
her  old  vicious  habits  latterly,  there  is  prob- 
ably no  foundation  for  this.  Most  chroniclers 
admit  that  she  took  to  drinking,  and  that  was 
the  cause  of  her  death,  which  occurred  two 
years  after  that  of  her  husband — namely, 
in  1727,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  her  age. 


90  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

According  to  the  Story  of  the  Nations 
(Russia)  two  events  in  her  reign  added  to  the 
glory  of  Russia  :  viz.  the  founding  of  the 
Academy  of  the  Sciences,  and  sending  Behring, 
a  Dane,  on  an  exploring  expedition  to 
Kamchatka. 

PETER  II  (1727-1730) 

As  Peter  the  Great  by  a  ukase  had  per- 
mitted Catherine  to  choose  her  successor,  she 
chose  Peter,  the  son  of  the  unfortunate  Alexis, 
a  child,  and  in  default  of  issue  EUzabeth,  and 
then  Anne,  her  daughters.  The  Government 
was  carried  on  by  a  Council,  of  which  Men- 
shikov,  who  had  complete  influence  over  the 
Empress,  was  the  head.  Menshikov  had  been 
the  chief  minister  of  Peter,  and  had  recom- 
mended him  to  place  his  grandson  on  the 
throne  on  the  ground  of  EUzabeth  and  Anne 
being  illegitimate.  He  was  made  the  guardian 
of  the  young  Czar  till  he  was  seventeen,  and 
had,  with  Ostermann  the  Chancellor,  a  man 
of  lowly  origin  but  who  had  risen  into  great 
favour  with  Peter,  almost  supreme  power  till 
he  gradually  fell  into  disgrace,  and  four 
months  after  he  had  produced  to  the  Council 
the  will  of  the  Empress,  Peter  signed  the 
ukase  which  condemned  him  to  banishment 
and  deprived  him  of  his  honours.     He  was 


i 


ABOLITION  OF  PRIMOGENITURE  91 

sent  with  his  family  to  Siberia,  where  he  died 
in  1729.    The  Czar  himself  died  in  1730. 

He  had  been  engaged  to  Marie,  Menshikov's 
daughter,  but  on  the  disgrace  of  the  family 
transferred  his  affections  to  Catherine  Dolgor- 
ouki,  daughter  of  his  successor  to  power. 
She  offended  him  and  was  in  turn  disgraced, 
as  were  her  family,  at  the  instance  of  Biren. 
Elizabeth,  on  becoming  Empress,  recalled  her 
from  a  convent. 


ANNE   I   (IVANNOVNA)  (1730-I740) 

The  Council,  on  assembling  to  settle  the 
succession,  set  aside  the  will  of  Catherine  and 
offered  the  Crown  to  Anne,  the  widowed 
Duchess  of  Courland,  daughter  of  Ivan,  the 
elder  brother  of  Peter  the  Great,  under  certain 
restrictions  which,  if  adhered  to,  would  have 
made  Russia  a  constitutionally  governed 
country.  But  as  it  was,  Anne  ascended  the 
throne  with  the  same  unbridled  power  as  her 
predecessors.  She  was  a  coarse,  hard  woman, 
given  to  orgies  and  a  lascivious  mode  of  living. 
Her  reign  is  unimportant. 

The  only  incidents  worthy  of  notice  are  the 
abolition  of  primogeniture,  which  was  imposed 
by  Peter  the  Great  on  real  property,  and  a 
war  with  Turkey,  in  which  the  Russians  were 


)  i 


90  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

According  to  the  Story  of  the  Nations 
{Russia)  two  events  in  her  reign  added  to  the 
glory  of  Russia  :  viz.  the  founding  of  the 
Academy  of  the  Sciences,  and  sending  Behring, 
a  Dane,  on  an  exploring  expedition  to 
Kamchatka. 

PETER  II  (1727-1730) 

As  Peter  the  Great  by  a  ukase  had  per- 
mitted Catherine  to  choose  her  successor,  she 
chose  Peter,  the  son  of  the  unfortunate  Alexis, 
a  child,  and  in  default  of  issue  Ehzabeth,  and 
then  Anne,  her  daughters.  The  Government 
was  carried  on  by  a  Council,  of  which  Men- 
shikov,  who  had  complete  influence  over  the 
Empress,  was  the  head.  Menshikov  had  been 
the  chief  minister  of  Peter,  and  had  recom- 
mended him  to  place  his  grandson  on  the 
throne  on  the  ground  of  Ehzabeth  and  Anne 
being  illegitimate.  He  was  made  the  guardian 
of  the  young  Czar  till  he  was  seventeen,  and 
had,  with  Ostermann  the  Chancellor,  a  man 
of  lowly  origin  but  who  had  risen  into  great 
favour  with  Peter,  almost  supreme  power  till 
he  gradually  fell  into  disgrace,  and  four 
months  after  he  had  produced  to  the  Council 
the  will  of  the  Empress,  Peter  signed  the 
ukase  which  condemned  him  to  banishment 
and  deprived  him  of  his  honours.     He  was 


ABOLITION  OF  PRIMOGENITURE  91 

sent  with  his  family  to  Siberia,  where  he  died 
in  1729.    The  Czar  himself  died  in  1730. 

He  had  been  engaged  to  Marie,  Menshikov's 
daughter,  but  on  the  disgrace  of  the  family 
transferred  his  affections  to  Catherine  Dolgor- 
ouki,  daughter  of  his  successor  to  power. 
She  offended  him  and  was  in  turn  disgraced, 
as  were  her  family,  at  the  instance  of  Biren. 
Ehzabeth,  on  becoming  Empress,  recalled  her 
from  a  convent. 


ANNE   I   (IVANNOVNA)   (1730-I740) 

The  Council,  on  assembling  to  settle  the 
succession,  set  aside  the  will  of  Catherine  and 
offered  the  Crown  to  Anne,  the  widowed 
Duchess  of  Courland,  daughter  of  Ivan,  the 
elder  brother  of  Peter  the  Great,  under  certain 
restrictions  which,  if  adhered  to,  would  have 
made  Russia  a  constitutionally  governed 
country.  But  as  it  was,  Anne  ascended  the 
throne  with  the  same  unbridled  power  as  her 
predecessors.  She  was  a  coarse,  hard  woman, 
given  to  orgies  and  a  lascivious  mode  of  living. 
Her  reign  is  unimportant. 

The  only  incidents  worthy  of  notice  are  the 
abolition  of  primogeniture,  which  was  imposed 
by  Peter  the  Great  on  real  property,  and  a 
war  with  Turkey,  in  which  the  Russians  were 


92 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


commanded  by  Lacy,  an  Irish  soldier  of 
fortune  who  had  formerly  been  in  the  service 
of  James  II,  and  who  had  followed  him  in  his 
exile  to  France.  The  Russians  were  successful, 
but  nothing  came  of  the  war,  and  Lacy  died, 
when  Governor  of  Riga,  in  175 1. 

The  favourite  minister  of  Anne  was  a  man 
named  Biren,  the  grandson  of  a  stable-boy 
belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Courland  and  the 
reputed  son  of  a  groom.  This  Biren  was  a 
detestable  character,  but  he  remained  the 
actual  ruler  of  Russia  for  years. 

The  Empress  died  in  1740,  and  Biren 
becane  Regent  to  Ivan  Antonovitz,  who  was 
named  by  Anne  as  her  successor.  Ivan  was 
the  grandson  of  Catherine,  Duchess  of  Meck- 
lenburg, who  had  left  a  daughter,  also  named 
Anne,  wedded  to  Antony  Ulrich,  Prince  of 
Brunswick,  in  1739. 

IVAN  VI  (1740-1741) 

Biren  did  not  remain  Regent  long.  He 
became  the  victim  of  a  plot,  was  banished  to 
Siberia,  and  Anne,  Duchess  of  Brunswick, 
the  mother  of  the  Czar,  became  his  guardian. 
But  another  plot  deprived  Ivan  of  the  throne. 
It  was  conceived  by  Elizabeth  Petrovna, 
called  '4e  catin  du  Nord  "  by  her  enemy, 


^ 


Ivan   VI 

keigneil    174C-1.       Assas>inated   1764 


To  face  page  g2 


■kirtMMlM 


mmm 


md,^m> 


ELIZABETH   OUSTS    IVAN   VI     93 

Frederick  the  Great,  daughter  of  the  great 
Peter  and  Catherine,  in  order  to  secure  the 
succession  to  herself,  which  she  did  in  1741, 
with  the  help  of  Field-Marshal  Munich. 

ELIZABETH  (1741-I761) 

was  a  woman  of  some  attractions  in  her  youth, 
but  lost  them  when  she  ascended  the  throne, 
which  she  did  in  the  thirty-second  year  of  her 
age.  She  put  forward  her  nephew  Peter,  the 
son  of  the  Duke  of  Holstein,  and  her  sister 
Anne  as  her  successor.  In  1744  he  married 
the  Princess  Sophia  of  Anhalt,  and  both  he 
and  his  wife  became  members  of  the  Greek 
Church,  Sophia  taking  the  name  of  Catherine. 
The  reign  presents  few  features  of  interest ; 
her  succession  was  an  usurpation,  probably 
not  her  own  doing  but  at  the  instance  of  her 
minister,  Lestocq  :  nevertheless,  it  was  hailed 
with  delight  by  the  nation,  and  the  shouts  of 
the  soldiers  rang  through  the  streets.  Little 
Ivan,  whom  she  was  ousting,  clapped  his 
hands  and  shouted  too.  *'  Poor  child,"  said 
Elizabeth,  ''  you  little  know  these  shouts 
celebrate  your  own  undoing.''  In  the  War  of 
the  Austrian  Succession  Elizabeth  took  the 
part  of  Maria  Theresa,  and  she  also  sided  with 
Austria  in  the  Seven  Years'  War.    A  victory 


94 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


was  gained  in  1759  over  Frederick  the  Great 
at  Kiinersdorf,  and  in  the  next  year  General 
Soltikof  defeated  the  Prussians  again  after  a 
terrible  battle.  In  1761  Colberg  was  invested 
and  Berlin  taken  by  the  Russians,  laid  under 
contribution  and  magazines  destroyed,  driv- 
ing Frederick  to  the  depths  of  despair,  but 
nothing  further  was  done,  for  Elizabeth  died 
and  Peter  III,  being  an  admirer  of  Frederick, 
resolved  to  abandon  the  Austrian  Alliance. 
The  character  of  Elizabeth  is  not  commend- 
able. She  was  dissipated  and  had  many 
lovers,  and  is  said  to  have  been  privately 
married  to  her  favourite  Alexis  Razonmikna, 
the  son  of  a  drunken  Cossack.  The  un- 
fortunate Princess  Tarakanov,  who  was  sub- 
sequently caught  by  a  trick  and  put  to  death 
by  Catherine  II,  was  their  daughter.  Eliza- 
beth abolished  the  punishment  of  death,  but 
she  introduced  the  torture  instead.  One  of 
her  commandants  had  usually  ten  thousand 
malefactors,  more  or  less,  under  his  care  with 
their  tongues  torn  out  or  ears  or  noses  cut  off 
or  otherwise  disfigured. 

The  system  of  lettres  de  cachet  was  borrowed 
from  France,  and  it  is  roughly  computed 
that  some  eighty  thousand  people  were  sent 
to  Siberia  by  the  orders  of  her  Government. 
Elizabeth  was  vain  and  extravagant  to  a 


S-SR-*-^ 


Pktek  III.     1 761 -1 762 
Assassinated   I "62 


111  till  ■  pit^i    ^4 


i 


PETER   III 


95 


degree.  Sixteen  thousand  dresses  —  many 
never  worn — were  found  at  her  death,  and 
chests  of  ribbons,  shoes  and  stockings.  With 
her  death  the  direct  House  of  Romanoff 
became  extinct,  Peter  III,  the  next  Czar, 
being  the  son  of  the  Duke  of  Holstein-Gottorp 
and  Anne,  the  elder  sister  of  Elizabeth. 


PETER   III  (JANUARY   5,    I762) 

Peter  was  not  liked  by  the  nation.  He  was 
elected  as  her  successor  by  Elizabeth,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  law  made  by  her  father  allow- 
ing a  sovereign  to  nominate  the  successor. 
He  at  once  made  peace  with  Frederick  the 
Great,  his  attachment  for  whom,  together 
with  his  German  habits  and  German  guard, 
were  singularly  distasteful  to  the  nation. 
Yet  during  his  short  reign  he  did  good.  He 
repealed  the  laws  as  to  torture,  recalled  many 
exiles  and  forgave  those  who  had  been  his 
enemies.  But  when  his  humanity  and  moder- 
ation have  been  mentioned,  the  enumeration 
of  his  good  points  ceases.  He  was  weak  and 
irresolute  in  character,  addicted  to  drinking 
and  without  principle.  What  led  to  his  im- 
mediate downfall  was  the  quarrel  with  his 
wife.  He  was  openly  unfaithful  to  her,  vowed 
to  divorce  her  and  make  her  son  Paul  illegiti- 


|i 


96 


RUSSIA'S    STORY 


mate.  But  Catherine  was  a  character  formed 
of  another  mould  to  her  husband.  Taking 
the  initiative,  by  a  coup  d'etat  she  seized  the 
Government,  and  all  save  Munich,  an  old 
general,  deserted  Peter.  Munich  advised  him 
to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  troops  and 
rely  on  their  allegiance.  But  his  courage 
failed  him.  He,  however,  consented  to  go  to 
Cronstadt  ;  when  they  arrived  they  found 
Catherine's  partisans  had  already  seized  the 
place.  ''  Show  yourself  to  them,  remind  them 
of  their  oaths  to  you,  their  Emperor,"  cried 
the  spirited  old  man.  But  Peter  retired 
trembling  into  the  cabin.  Munich  followed 
him.  ''  Let  us  sail  to  the  fleet,"  he  said, ''  and 
with  their  aid  recover  Russia."  No— Peter 
lacked  the  energy  to  take  any  decisive  step. 
He  threw  himself  on  his  wife's  mercy.  He 
might  as  well  have  asked  it  from  a  tigress. 
In  a  week  he  was  dead,  and  with  the  throne 
firmly  grasped  in  her  bloodstained  hands 
Catherine  the  Great  commenced  her  memor- 
able reign. 

CATHERINE    II   (JULY    I4,    I762-I796) 

Her  foreign  policy  was  a  continuance  of 
that  of  her  husband.  The  treaty  with 
Frederick  was  renewed,  but  she  did  not  im- 
mediately take  any  active  part  in  the  war. 


<,>iJEKN    CaTHKRINE    II 
Reigned   1762   1796 


y        1 1 
[ 


:   ''' 

I 


'J\>  jaci-  /><t£t'  96 


i'. 


f 


i 

k 

* 


CATHERINE    THE   GREAT       97 

For  the  murder  of  her  husband  had  made  her 
very  unpopular  and  she  had  need  of  all  her 
unusual  powers  of  mind  to  reconcile  or  crush 
her  numerous  enemies.  She  confirmed  the 
suppression  of  the  torture  and  its  attendant, 
the  secret  Court  (or  Russian  Star  Chamber), 
and  established  a  commission  for  the  better 
adjudication  of  Church  property.  Hospitals 
were  founded,  men  of  letters  encouraged,  and 
strangers  invited  from  all  parts.  The  home 
poUcy  of  Peter  the  Great  seemed  revived 
again.  The  army  too  she  increased,  till  it 
swelled  to  nearly  half  a  million,  and  the  navy 
amounted  to  fifty  ships.  With  such  an 
offensive  power  she  seemed  to  consider  that, 
matters  at  home  being  appeased,  she  had  a 
right  to  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  Europe. 

Since  Peter  the  Great's  time  Poland  had 
been  to  some  extent  under  Russia's  patron- 
age. She  now  resolved  to  place  her  favourite, 
Stanislaus  Poniatoski,  on  its  throne,  and  to 
pave  the  way  to  ultimate  annexation.  But 
the  consent  of  the  other  Powers  must  be 
obtained. 

Frederick  the  Great,  equally  ambitious  and 
grasping  as  herself,  was  bribed  by  a  promise 
of  a  share  in  the  plunder,  and  Catherine,  by 
miUtary  aid,  compelled  her  favourite's  elec- 
tion and  was  rewarded  by  the  satisfaction  of 

B 


-  -a^^-^j  ^^^/'-^ 


'; 


98 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


seeing  that  none  of  the  Western  Powers  inter- 
fered    Emboldened  by  this.  Fredenck  sent 
his  brother  Henry  to  St.  Petersburg  to  suggest 
a  treaty  of  partition  ;  as  Austria's  opposition 
was  most  to  be  dreaded,  it  was  agreed  that 
she  should  be  admitted  to  a  third,  on  the  con- 
dition of  lending  the  aid  of  her  bayonets  to 
assist  in  the  perpetration  of  the  atrocity. 
Two  years  were  allowed  to  intervene,  during 
which  period  Catherine  was  engaged  in  a  war 
with  Turkey.    Having  stirred  up  dissension 
among  the  Christians  in  the  Ottoman  do- 
minions, a  fleet  was  dispatched  to  assist  the 
insurgents.     A  great  naval  victory  was  won 
over  the  Turks,  and  the  Russians  were  also 
successful  on  land  ;  the  treaty  of  Kainaidge, 
which  concluded  the   war,   advanced  their 
frontier  to  the  Bug,  and  led  the  way  to  the 
conquest  of  the  Crimea  in  1771. 

A  terrible  plague  visited  the  land  and  swept 
away  one  hundred  thousand  in  Moscow  alone. 
The  sight  of  a  picture  of  the  Virgin  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Moscow  was  supposed  aUke  to 
prevent  and  cure  the  disease  ;  consequently, 
those  yet  spared  and  those  infected  thronged 
together  round  this  picture  and  spread  the 
contagion  more. 


■ 


WAR  WITH   TURKEY 


PARTITION   OF   POLAND 


99 


Considering  the  distracted  state  of  Poland 
a  pretext  for  interference  was  easily  obtained  ; 
the  armies  of  the  confederates  entered  the 
country,  and  in  1773  made  the  first  partition. 
The  second  was  not  achieved  till  1792,  as  the 
robbers  waited  a  few  years  for  an  excuse  and 
to  feel  the  pulse  of  public  opinion.  Austria 
had  no  hand  in  the  second  partition.  The 
Poles  struggled  hard  under  Kosciusko  to 
preserve  the  last  remnant  of  their  once  ex- 
tensive kingdom  ;  but  their  bravery  could 
avail  nothing  against  numbers,  and  Poland 
ceased  to  exist  as  a  Power. 

WAR  WITH   TURKEY  AGAIN 

The  intrigues  against  Turkey  meanwhile 
continued.  Sometimes  there  was  open  war 
and  sometimes  a  hollow  truce,  Russia  getting 
the  best  of  the  treaties.  The  aim  of  Catherine 
was  to  obtain  the  Crimea,  if  indeed  she  had 
not,  as  many  say,  grander  projects,  viz. 
to  drive  the  Mussulman  from  Europe  alto- 
gether. 

In  1783  she  seized  the  Crimea,  and  by  as- 
sembling great  armies  on  the  Turkish  frontier 
frightened  the  Porte  into  ratifying  the  aggres- 


gggm 


^11 


loo  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

sion  by  treaty.  It  was  at  this  period  that  the 
supremacy  of  Russia  in  arms  over  Turkey 
began  to  be  apparent,  and  she  used  that 
supremacy  to  the  utmost— respected  no 
neutraUty,  kept  no  treaties. 

The  former  Khan  of  the  Crimea,  who  had 
been  useful  to  her  against  Turkey,  to  whom 
on  taking  his  kingdom  she  had  promised  a 
pension,  reduced  to  destitution  by  the  non- 
payment  of  it,  threw  himself  on  the  mercy  of 
the  Turks,  who  slew  him.    On  the  expulsion 
of  the  Tartars  from  the  Cheronese  Turkey, 
irritated  to  excess,  declared  war.    On  Austria's 
joining  Russia,  the  Porte  was  evidently  over- 
matched.    Fortress  after  fortress  feU  into  the 
hands  of  the  Russians,  who  were  led  by  their 
celebrated  general,  Suwarof.    The  campaign 
was  long :    after  Bender  and  Ismael  were 
taken    Varna   menaced,    ajid   the   road   to 
Adriakople  laid  open,  the  terms  which  were 
offered  to  Turkey   were  accepted.     Russia 
merely  kept  the  country  between  the  Bug 
and  Dniester  ;    indeed,  she  wanted  to  have 
peace,  for  her  treasury  was  exhausted  by  the 
long  protracted  campaign  and  Sweden  was 
pressing  her  in  the  North. 


ARMED   NEUTRALITY         loi 

THE   ARMED   NEUTRALITY  OF   I780 

Russia  was  not  the  aggressor  against 
Sweden.  The  war  was  unimportant,  and  the 
Swedes  would  probably  never  have  under- 
taken it  had  not  England  promised  them  a 
fleet.  In  the  time  of  Catherine  the  first  breach 
between  England  and  Russia  occurred.  France 
was  engaged  in  a  furious  war  with  England, 
and  had  been  instrumental  to  Catherine  in 
inducing  the  Sultan  to  make  concessions,  and 
she  in  return  embraced  the  principle  of  mari- 
time law  that  free  ships  make  free  goods, 
which  means  that  enemy's  goods  are  safe  on 
neutral  ships,  and  the  first  declaration  of  an 
armed  neutrality  against  England  was  thrown 
out.  No  doubt  there  was  justice jn  the  theory, 
though  it  is  at  variance  with  the  laws  of 
01eron,the  Consolato  del  Mare,  and  other  early 
maritime  codes  ;  but  it  was  one  which  a  great 
maritime  power  would  be  averse  to  recognize 
and  which  England  had  always  disavowed. 
However,  active  hostilities  were  averted ; 
Catherine,  at  the  instance  of  our  Ambassador, 
withdrew  her  declaration.  England  recog- 
nized the  principle  in  question  at  the  Treaty 
of  Paris  in  1856. 


102 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


/ 


HER  FAVOURITES 

Catherine  has  received  the  name  of  the 
modern  MessaUna,  and  justly  she  deserved  it. 
Her  personal  favourites  were  numerous  and 
generally  selected  on  account  of  their  beauty 
Other  sovereigns  have  generally  kept  their 
amours  to  some  extent  secret,  but  Catherine 
gave  to  hers  avowed  pubUcity,  with  the  most 
unblushing  effrontery.     Potemkim  was  her 
principal  lover.     He  exercised  a  prodigious 
influence  over  the  Empress  and  the  country, 
which  is  remarkable,  considering  the  fickle- 
ness and  instability  of  his  character.    Yet  he 
had  some  good  points  ;    though  avaricious, 
he  was  occasionally  generous  ;   though  des- 
potic, obliging  ;  and  though  sometimes  timid 
yet  at  others  bUndly  indifferent  to  personal 
danger      He  was  notoriously  unfaithful  to 
Catherine,  notwithstanding  his  Position  de- 
pended on  her  royal  favour.    He  died  in  a 
ditch  by  accident,  yet  his  remains  were^ti- 
mately  interred  in  one  on  purpose     When 
taken  ill  in  his  carriage  he  was  hfted  for  ease 
to  the  roadside,  and  there  he  died.    He  was 
magnificently  buried  at  Cherson,  b/  o^der  of 
Catherine  ;  but  when  Paul  succeeded  he  had 
his  body  disinterred  and  thrown  under  the 
first  hedge.     Orloff,  Zuboff,  and  Narashkm 


\ 


1 


CATHERINE   THE  GREAT      103 

were  the  names  of  some  of  her  other  lovers  ; 
they  were  all  profligate,   greedy,   and  un- 
scrupulous—in fact  the  whole  Court,  from  the 
Empress  down,  was  a  mass  of  wickedness 
and  corruption.     Their  establishments  are 
reputed  to  have  cost  about  twelve  millions 
sterling,   money   taken   from  the   wretched 
serfs,  whose  condition  was  truly  pitiable,  and 
whose  persons  she  gave  by  thousands  to  them ; 
to  Orloff  alone  she  is  said  to  have  presented 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds.    By 
her  extravagance  she  reduced  thousands  to 
beggary,  for  she  distributed  diamonds  by hand- 
fuls,  and  made  gold  and  silver  as  common  as 
pebbles ;  she  took  with  one  hand  and  gave  with 
the  other.    Although  enriched  by  the  plunder 
of  Poland,  the  Crimea,  and  Courland,  at  her 
death   her    treasury    was   empty   and   her 
revenues  in  a  sad  state  of  confusion  and 
dilapidation. 

HER  JOURNEY  TO  THE  CRIMEA 

Her  celebrated  journey  to  the  Crimea,  in 
order  to  be  crowned  Queen  of  the  Taurida, 
which  classic  name  she  had  given  to  it  on 
annexation,  is  an  instance  of  her  profusion ; 
it  was  undertaken  at  the  suggestion  of  Potem- 
kim in  1787,  and  in  splendour  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  voyage  of  Cleopatra  down  the 


^'■"■""'  ■-'"•-'f^-ff 


104 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Cydnus.  It  was  winter — the  Russian  winter 
of  twilight.  As  she  journeyed  immense  piles 
of  trees  were  set  on  fire  to  create  an  artificial 
day,  and  wherever  the  Empress  stopped  a 
temporary  palace  was  erected  for  her  recep- 
tion, replete  with  every  magnificence  and 
closed  against  any  intrusion  of  the  elements. 
The  desolation  of  the  country  was  disguised 
by  villages  built  on  purpose,  peasants  were 
represented  dancing  where  the  people  were 
really  starving,  especially  in  those  districts 
where  war  had  laid  its  devastating  hand. 
During  the  whole  journey,  which  lasted  about 
six  months,  her  courtiers  flung  out  money  to 
the  people,  who  grovelled  on  the  earth  as  the 
procession  passed  by.  The  object  of  the 
display  was  to  gratify  her  desire  for  ostenta- 
tion, and  to  gain  popularity,  but  at  what  cost 
the  empty  resources  of  the  Empire  testified  ; 
and  yet  had  her  measures  been  a  little  less 
arbitrary  she  need  not  have  sought  popularity 
at  so  ruinous  a  price . 

HER  CHARACTER  AND   DEATH 

Independently  of  being  able  to  command 
that  respect  which  is  involuntarily  given  to  a 
ruler  endowed  with  strength  of  character  and 
powers  of  mind,  in  person  she  was  not  dis- 


^ 


CONTEMPLATED  WAR        105 

agreeable  ;  her  manner  was  winning,  and  she 
was  handsome  when  young,  though  latterly 
her  features  were  disfigured  by  the  amount  of 
paint  she  wore  to  hide  the  wrinkles  of  age. 
Although  her  temper  was  that  of  a  demon, 
yet  she  never  suffered  an  expression  of  anger 
to  escape  her,  but  was  always  serene  and 
composed,  and  with  an  impassable  counte- 
nance. The  Prince  de  Linge  calls  her  '*Votre 
ImperturbabiUte."  It  was  her  temper  which 
caused  her  death.  She  intrigued  that  her 
granddaughter,  the  Grand  Duchess  Alex- 
andrina,  should  be  married  to  Gustavus,  the 
young  King  of  Sweden,  who  was  but  eighteen. 
He  was  invited  to  St.  Petersburg  for  that 
purpose,  and  everything  was  arranged.  But 
by  a  law  of  Sweden  the  Queen  must  belong  to 
the  Lutheran  religion.  However,  she  resolved 
that  her  granddaughter  should  be  an  excep- 
tion. On  this  the  King  broke  off  the  marriage 
with  some  abruptness,  and  took  his  departure. 
It  was  done  on  the  day  appointed  for  the 
celebration  of  the  marriage,  and  Catherine, 
though  beside  herself  with  anger,  preserved 
her  calmness  and  merely  dismissed  the 
assembly.  Then  the  Empire  rang  with  pre- 
parations for  war  and  vengeance,  but  her 
power  of  dissimulation  was  fatal  to  her 
system,  and  her  days  were  drawing  to  a  close. 


:LT.|i|w)JM«»Wi«WiaMWII 


1 06 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Her  ladies  coming  into  the  saloon  of  business 
to  receive  her  orders  as  to  the  levying  of  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  found  her  stretched 
lifeless  and  bleeding  on  the  floor  ;  and  thus 
died  suddenly  this  remarkable  woman,  in  the 
sixty-eighth  year  of  her  age  and  the  thirty- 
fourth  of  her  successful  reign. 

Many  architectural  improvements  and  fine 
buildings  were  erected  in  her  reign,  amongst 
which  may  be  mentioned  the  Law  Courts,  a 
magnificent  and  imposing  structure.  She  also 
founded  a  German  Colony  near  the  Capital 
for  the  purpose  of  instructing  the  peasantry 
as  to  land  cultivation.  This  still  exists,  but 
the  inhabitants  have  become  completely 
Russianized  and  are  not  a  source  of  danger. 

PAUL  (1796-1801) 

Paul,  her  successor,  had  never  been  a 
favourite  with  her,  and  soon  after  his  accession 
he  showed  he  was  sensible  of  her  dislike  to 
him.  Even  before  her  funeral  he  caused  the 
body  of  the  husband  she  had  murdered  to  be 
disinterred  and  buried  in  great  state  in  the 
cathedral.  He  then  recalled  exiles,  amongst 
others  the  unfortunate  Kosciusko,  the  cham- 
pion of  Poland  ;  disbanded  some  part  of  the 
enormous  army  which  his  mother  had  set  on 


I 


PAUL— HIS   ECCENTRICITIES    107 

foot,  and  appeared  likely  to  devote  himself 
to  a  pacific  pohcy  ;  yet,  though  not  remorse- 
less or  cruel,  as  his  mother,  he  did  far  less 
good  for  the  country.  He  was  a  man  of  little 
or  no  character,  interested  in  trifles,  and 
totally  unfitted  to  sway  a  mighty  Empire. 
Had  Catherine's  death  not  taken  place  so 
suddenly  she  would,  no  doubt,  have  nomin- 
ated a  successor  other  than  Paul. 

Paul  was  singularly  ugly,  which  is  remark- 
able, seeing  the  Russian  Imperial  family  were, 
as  a  rule,  always  handsome.  When  angry  he 
had  a  way  of  blowing  from  his  underlip  against 
his  shirt,  and  when  pleased  he  used  to  sway 
his   hands   and   feet   about   in   an  uncouth 


manner. 


HIS  ECCENTRICITIES 


Many  anecdotes  are  told  of  his  absurdities. 
Once  passing  by  a  guard-house  the  officer  on 
duty  did  not  salute  him,  so  he  boxed  his  ears. 
Again,  the  horse  of  an  officer  threw  his  rider. 
*'  Get  up,  you  scoundrel,'*  cried  Paul.  *'  Your 
Highness,  I  cannot ;  I  have  broken  my  leg," 
said  the  officer.  Whereupon  Paul  spat  upon 
him,  and  retired  swearing.  When  one  of  his 
carriage-horses  stumbled  he  made  some  of  the 
attendants  hold  him  while  the  coachman  gave 
him  fifty  lashes  with  the  whip— Paul  saying, 


•'^msi«0mmm»m»»i*mmsm0 


108 


RUSSIANS  STORY 


when  the  punishment  was  concluded : 
*'  There,  sir  ;  now  you  will  not  try  to  fall  with 
the  Emperor  again,  I  think/'  Many  thought 
him  mad  ;  to  use  the  mildest  expression,  he 
was  decidedly  eccentric.  Examples  of  his 
eccentricity  could  be  multiplied  to  any  extent, 
e.g.  a  sudden  prohibition  to  harness  horses 
after  the  Russian  modes,  and  orders  given  to 
the  police  to  cut  the  traces  of  any  carriage 
whose  horses  were  so  harnessed  after  that 
period  ;  also  forbidding  carriages  to  appear 
in  the  streets  of  St.  Petersburg.  No  one  was 
safe  from  his  absurdities.  An  officer  walking 
in  the  street  had  given  his  servant,  who  was 
following,  his  sword  to  hold.  Suddenly  the 
Emperor  appeared.  *'  Well,  as  you  have  the 
sword  you  had  better  be  the  officer,"  he  said, 
and  actually  degraded  the  officer  to  the  ranks 
and  gave  the  man  a  captaincy.  He  also 
revived  the  old  custom  of  making  everybody 
prostrate  themselves  whenever  the  Emperor 
or  any  of  his  family  were  passing.  This  was 
reasonable  enough  when  the  people  were  few 
and  scattered,  as  during  the  earliest  history  of 
Russia,  but  it  was  somewhat  difficult  and 
dangerous  in  a  large  and  crowded  city.  Also, 
at  balls  he  would  never  allow  anybody  in  the 
room  to  turn  his  back  to  him,  so  that  the 
attitudes  of  those  attempting  to  dance  were 


BREACH   WITH   FRANCE       109 

often  of  a  most  grotesque  character  ;  and  he 
would  also  descend  to  any  frivolity  to  show 
disrespect  to  his  mother's  memory  :  even  on 
mourning  rings,  which  some  people  wore  in 
commemoration  of  her  death,  he  compelled 
them  to  engrave  the  following  words  :  '*  Paul 
thoroughly  cures  me  of  any  affliction  I  felt  at 
the  death  of  Catherine."  One  of  his  chief 
characteristics  was  hatred  of  France,  especi- 
ally Republican  France.  Another  was  an 
especial  affection  for  the  Grand  Knights  of 
Malta,  which  second  penchant  was  the  cause 
of  war  with  the  former  country,  for  when 
Napoleon  took  Malta  he  joined  with  the 
English  and  Turks  against  him,  and  in  1799 
sent  an  army,  under  Suwarof,  to  co-operate 
with  the  Austrians  in  Italy. 

The  part  which  Russia  took  in  the  Napo- 
leonic Wars  may  be  shortly  summarized  as 
follows  : 

In  1798  Pitt  formed  the  second  coalition 
against  France.  British  subsidies,  as  well  as 
the  Emperor  Paul's  hatred  of  Napoleon, 
induced  Russia  to  join  it.  But  Italy  was 
conquered  before  the  coalition  could  put  its 
armies  in  motion.  The  situation,  however, 
of  the  French  Directory  was  difficult  and 
perilous  ;  it  had  to  govern  and  defend,  besides 
Italy,  Holland  and  Switzerland  :   that  is,  to 


■'*m/m$^wm»mmiiimMm* 


110  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

fight  along  a  line  which  extended  from  the 
Texel  to  the  Adriatic  and  which  was  attacked 
in  front  by  Austria  and  Russia  and  on  the 
coasts  by  the  EngUsh  fleet.     Moreau  com- 
manded  the  French,  and  several  battles  took 
place.      Suwarof,   an   able   and    determined 
general,  led  sixty  thousand  Russians.     He 
advanced  into  Italy,  and  rapidly  recovered 
all  the  country  conquered  by  Buonaparte, 
with  the  exception  of  Genoa.  '  He  then  in- 
vaded Switzerland,  but  want  of  co-operation 
on  the  part  of  the  Austrians  prevented  his 
continuing  his  successes.    Moreau  was  beaten 
at  Lecco  and  Cassano,  and  lost  Milan  and 
Turin.     He   also   gained  a  partial  victory, 
after  a  terrible  fight,  on  the  River  Trebbia 
(where  Hannibal  in  ancient  days  defeated  a 
Roman  army),  over  Macdonald,  and  twelve 
thousand  on  either  side  are  said  to  have 
fallen.    Then  he  invested  Mantua,  and  won 
the  Battle  of  Novi,  in  which  Joubert,  the 
French  general  sent  to  supersede  Moreau,  was 
killed.     He  was  ordered  to  join  Korsakof, 
another  Russian  general  in  Switzerland,  who 
was  getting  worsted  by  Massena.    They  were 
to  meet  on  a  certain  day  at  Zurich,  but  before 
the  day  arrived  Massena  had  driven  Korsakof 
out  of  it.    Suwarof  knowing  nothing  of  this, 
led  his  army  over  Mount  St.  Gothard  and 


SUWAROF'S   SUCCESSES       iii 

reached  Altorf  after  incredible  hardships, 
crossing  the  Reuss  by  means  merely  of  beams 
thrown  across  the  chasm  between  the  lofty 
mountains  which  gird  it,  the  French  having 
blown  up  the  Devil's  Bridge,  as  it  was  called, 
by  which  it  was  previously  spanned.  From 
Altorf  the  march  was  continued,  and  the 
Valley  of  the  Rhine  reached  at  last.  This 
march  is  considered  one  of  the  most  daring 
and  disastrous  on  record.  The  mountain 
snows,  the  unknown  paths  and  windings,  the 
many  cold  streams  interlining  them,  the 
obstructions  from  the  enemy's  sharpshooters, 
all  combined,  caused  a  loss  of  about  a  third 
of  Suwarof's  men  and  of  all  his  horses  and 
artillery  ;  and  although  his  name  has  been 
handed  down  to  posterity  as  that  of  a  first- 
class  general — and,  no  doubt,  he  proved  him- 
self so  in  many  instances — yet  in  this  isolated 
case  he  undeniably  acted  with  great  precipita- 
tion. He  must  have  known  that  mountain 
warfare  was  not  suited  to  the  habits  of  his 
soldiery,  that  the  cross-road  across  the 
St.  Gothard  was  intercepted  by  the  Lake  of 
the  Four  Cantons,  that  he  had  no  boats,  and 
that  every  step  of  his  progress  would  be 
obstinately  disputed  by  the  enemy.  Con- 
sidering all  this,  tt  is  a  marvel  that  he  ever 
reached  the  other  side  at  all. 


112 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


In  1799  a  joint  expedition  for  the 
recovery  of  Holland  was  undertaken  by 
England  and  Russia,  to  which  the  latter 
supplied  seventeen  thousand  men.  This 
expedition  was  a  failure  and  ended  by  the 
capitulation  of  the  Duke  of  York,  the  joint 
commander-in-chief,  the  terms  being  the 
restoration  of  the  Helder,  which  had  been 
captured,  and  the  re-embarkation  of  the 
remains  of  the  allied  forces. 

The  Austrians  and  Russians  now  began  to 
quarrel  amongst  themselves,  as  the  campaign 
was    not    progressing    as    satisfactorily    as 
desired,  and  each  threw  the  blame  on  the 
other.     So  the  Emperor  Paul  withdrew  his 
troops  and,  with  an  inconsistency  natural  to 
his  character,  began  to  abandon  the  cause 
of  the  allies  and  to  court  the  friendship  of 
France.    Napoleon,  considering  Paul  a  valu- 
able ally  to  be  gained  over  by  flattery  and 
those  other  arts  of  ingenuity  of  which  he  was 
so  consummate  a  master,  induced  him  to 
dismiss  the   Ambassadors   of   England   and 
Austria  and  to  send  away  Louis  XVIII,  to 
whom  he  had  given  a  house  at  Mittaw.    That 
unfortunate  sovereign,  whom,  as  Thackeray 
says   it  seems  that  fate  was  never  tired  of 
persecuting,  had  to  journey  with  his  family 
to  the  frontier  amid  the  cold  of  a  Russian 


BATTLE   OF  COPENHAGEN     113 

winter,  to  pass  a  night  with  sixty  drunken 
men  in  an  inn,  and  to  suffer  many  other 
privations. 

REVIVAL  OF  THE  ARMED  NEUTRALITY 

On  the  5th  September,  1800,  the  British 
took  Malta,  and  the  Emperor  Paul,  claim- 
ing to  be  Grand  Master  of  the  island, 
put  forward  certain  claims  which  were  not 
admitted.  Hence  arose  a  disagreement,  and 
an  embargo  was  laid  on  British  ships,  and  all 
British  property  in  Russia  was  confiscated. 
Russia  and  Sweden  then  formed  a  league  of 
armed  neutrality  against  England,  which  was 
joined  by  Denmark.  Prussia  acceded  to  the 
league  and  closed  the  mouths  of  the  Elbe, 
the  Weser,  and  the  Ems.  Remonstrances 
failing,  a  fleet,  under  the  command  of  Sir 
Hyde  Parker,  with  Nelson  second  in  com- 
mand, attacked  the  Danish  fleet  at  Copen- 
hagen and  completely  defeated  it.  This  was 
the  occasion  when  Sir  Hyde  Parker,  despairing 
of  the  result,  gave  the  signal  to  cease  firing ; 
but  Nelson,  looking  at  the  signal  with  his 
blind  eye,  declared  he  could  not  see  it,  and 
gave  the  order  to  engage  closer  than  ever. 
This  great  victory  caused  the  secession  of 
Denmark  from  the  league. 

Punishment,  also,  would  shortly  have  been 


114 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


inflicted  upon  Russia  for  her  defiance  of  the 
Empress  of  the  Ocean,  had  not  the  hand  of  an 
assassin  removed  the  Czar.  His  madness  had 
increased,  and  with  it  his  unpopularity.  He 
would  dispatch  one  man  to  Siberia  for  no 
reason  at  all,  load  another  with  favours  un- 
deservedly, and  indulge  in  similar  unaccount- 
able whims. 

DEATH   OF   PAUL 

The  Empress  Mary,  beautiful  and  good, 
had  to  put  up  with  the  continual  presence  of 
first  one  concubine  then  of  another  in  the 
palace  :  but  though  she  bore  these  indignities 
with  the  praiseworthy  meekness  which  signal- 
ized her  character,  still  she  aroused  the  sus- 
picions of  her  deranged  husband,  who  thought 
she  and  her  sons  were  conspiring  against  his 
life,  and  swore  he  would  confine  them  in 
dungeons.  Whenever  English  dispatches  or 
newspapers  were  brought,  to  show  his  anger 
against  England  he  would  cut  and  slash  them 
in  a  childish  manner,  and  things  arrived  at 
such  a  pass  that  some  of  the  nobles  saw  they 
must  dethrone  him  ;  even  his  sons  were  not 
averse  to  the  plan.  As  unto  Caesar  (if  the 
comparison  can  be  made)  a  note,  detailing  the 
conspiracy,  was  brought  to  him  in  the  morn- 
ing, and,  like  Caesar  again,  he  never  looked  at 


'.0- 


NEUTRALITY  CANCELLED     115 

it.  The  conspirators  did  not  desire  his  death, 
merely  his  abdication.  He  refused  to  sign 
this  ;  a  scuffle  ensued,  and  in  the  irritation  of 
the  moment  they  strangled  him.  The  event 
was  hailed  with  universal  deUght  through  the 
Empire,  but  his  eldest  son,  Alexander,  was 
horror-struck,  and  with  difficulty  persuaded 
to  accept  the  throne,  which  was  hereditary. 


Q 


ALEXANDER   I 


(1801)  "^ 


> 


The  accession  of  Alexander  was  hailed  with 
deUght  by  the  people.    He  was  only  twenty-    ) 
three   years   of   age,   and   had   married   th^ 
Princess  Louisa  of  Baden  at  sixteen^^^^on- 
sidering  his  youth,  the  wisdom  of  the  measures 
by  which  he  commenced  his  rule  was  sur- 
prising.   The  declaration  of  armed  neutrahty 
was  cancelled,  the  EngHsh  prisoners  released  ; 
the  prohibition  which  Paul  had  laid  on  the 
importation  of  corn  revoked,  and  every  en- 
deavour made  to  spread  the  blessings  of  peace.  \ 
Yet  he  increased  the  army  to  five  hundred  l 
thousand  men,  and  continued  the  grasping  ) 
poUcy  of  his  predecessors  in  the  East,  for  he 
seized  Georgia  and  added  it  to  the  already 
inflated   Imperial  dominions.     The   English 
system  of  farming  was  brought  into  Russia  / 
by   his   directions,    and   trade    with    Ckina 


ii6  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

opened  ;  fishing  establishments  were  started 
in  the  White  Sea,  and  a  voyage  round  the 
world  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  spreading 
Russian  commerce  and  mercantile  connec- 
tions. 

By  a  treaty  between  Great  Britain,  Russia, 
Denmark  and  Sweden,  the  embargo  placed 
on  British  property  was  removed,  the  rights 
of    neutral    navigation   restored,    the    ships 
captured    by    England    released,    and    the 
islands  she  had  taken  in  the  West  Indies 
surrendered.    This  treaty  was  brought  about 
by  the  vigour  of  Nelson.    The  death  of  Paul 
was  a  great  blow  to  France,  for  when  Russia 
seceded  from  the  armed  neutrality  it  fell  to 
pieces.     Yet  these  pacific  measures  did  not 
continue    long.      Napoleon   had   seized   the 
Duke  d'Engheim  on  German  soil,  and  the 
Czar,  as  Protector  of  the  Germanic  Confeder- 
ation,   was    bound    to    remonstrate.      The 
remonstrance   was   treated   with   contempt, 
and  on  the  seizure  of  Genoa,  the  Czar,  fearing 
French  aggression  would  eventually  subvert 
all  Europe  if  the  other  Powers  did  not  combine 
in  united  action,  again  joined  his  arms  with 
England  and  Austria, 

After  the  breach  of  the  Treaty  of  Amiens, 
a  league  was  formed  between  England  and 
Russia,  and  afterwards  joined  by  Austria, 


NAPOLEON'S  VICTORY        117 

in  which  the  contracting  parties  bound  them- 
selves to  resist  the  encroachments  of  France. 
This  was  the  third  coaUtion,  and  by  Austria 
joining,  the  army  designed  for  the  invasion  of 
England  was  drawn  away  from  Boulogne. 

The  Austrian  armies,  though  numerically 
superior  to  the  French,  were  worsted  in  every 
encounter.  General  Mack  surrendered  at 
Ulm  with  thirty  thousand  men,  and  Vienna 
was  taken  before  a  junction  could  be 
effected  with  the  Russians.  The  Czar  had 
accompanied  his  army  in  person,  and  the 
two  Emperors  from  a  hill,  on  the  2nd 
December,  1805,  saw  the  utter  rout  of  their 
armies  at  Austerlitz,  which  was  one  of 
Napoleon's  greatest  victories.  Francis  pur- 
chased peace  at  the  price  of  Dalmatia  and 
Albania,  and  Alexander  retreated  to  his  own 
dominions.  Thusended  the  third  coaUtion 
against  France.  MnTliF' fourth,  two  yearp) 
later,  Austria  did  not  take  any  part.  It  was 
formed  by  Russia,  Prussia,  Sweden  and  Eng- 
land. The  rapidity  of  the  French  movements 
enabled  them  to  attack  Prussia  before  the 
Russians  could  assist,  and  the  fields  of  Jena 
and  Auerstadt  laid  that  country  at  the  feet 
of  Napoleon.  The  Russians  met  the  French 
on  the  plains  of  Poland,  and  an  indecisive 
battle  was  fought,  in  which  a  Prussian  corps. 


i.>' 


m^ 


IMSIBSS*'" 


• 


ii8 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


under  General  Lestocq,  saved  the  Russian 
army  and  protected  its  retreat.  The  next 
year  the  victory  of  Friedland  decided  the 
campaign  and  compelled  Alexander  to  sue 
for  peace. 

TREATY   OF  TILSIT 

The  terms  granted  to  him  were  easy,  as 
Napoleon  was  anxious  to  acquire  the  friend- 
ship of  the  ruler  of  so  extensive  an  Empire. 
Besides  his  ideas  of  conquest  did  not  then 
extend  in  the  direction  of  Russia,  and  she, 
owing  to  her  power  in  the  East,  might  be  a 
useful  ally  against  England. 

The  interview  which  preceded  the  Treaty 
of  Tilsit  was  followed  by  others,  and  a  personal 
friendship  grew  up  between  the  Emperors, 
cemented  by  the  hope  that  each  might  assist 
the  other  in  his  views  of  aggrandisement. 

Alexander  obtained  Napoleon's  sanction  to 
uniting  Russia  with  Finland,  a  Swedish 
province,  and  with  Moldavia  and  Wallachia, 
provinces  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  Con- 
federacy of  the  Rhine  was  extended  to  the 
Elbe,  and  Alexander  promised  his  adherence 
to  the  Continental  system  laid  down  by  the 
decree  of  the  21st  November,  1806. 

England  saw  Russia  escape  from  her  in- 
fluence with  great  regret,  but  wishing  to  keep 


THE  CONTINENTAL  SYSTEM    119 

a  footing  in  the  Baltic  she  required  Denmark 
to  enter  into  an  offensive  and  defensive 
alliance,  and  as  a  guarantee  to  give  up  her 
capital  and  fleet,  to  be  restored  at  the  end  of 
the  war.  On  Denmark's  refusal  a  bombard- 
ment took  place,  in  which  the  Danish  fleet 
was  captured  and  taken  to  England.  Den- 
mark then  adhered  to  the  Continental  system, 
following  the  example  of  Russia  and  all  the 
seaboard  of  the  Baltic  yielded  to  the  yoke  of 
France. 

Meanwhile  Turkey,  egged  on  by  Napoleon, 
had  previously  declared  that  no  armed 
Russian  ship  should  pass  through  the  Straits 
of  Marmora.  Whereupon  Alexander  declared 
war  upon  her  and  sent  an  army  to  the  Danube, 
which  overran  the  principalities.  The  English 
dispatched  a  fleet  against  the  Turks,  but 
being  inferior  in  numerical  strength  to  that 
of  the  Porte  it  came  back  without  having 
effected  anything.  It  was  commanded  by 
Sir  John  Duckworth.  There  was  another 
expedition  sent  against  Egypt  equally  un- 
successful. England  has  often  been  fond  of 
sending  expeditions  on  a  small  scale— a  bad 
poUcy,  as  they  exhaust  the  strength  of  a 
nation,  and  are  seldom  Ukely  to  do  material 
good;  besides,  they  have  generally  been 
failures.    The  seventh  article  of  the  Treaty  of 


^1 


%] 


j 


I20 


RUSSIANS   STORY 


Tilsit  contained  a  direct  design  to  dismember 
the  Ottoman  Empire  ;  but  there  were  other 
secret  clauses,  the  nature  of  which  have  never 
exactly  transpired,  but  which  were  aimed  at 
endangering  the  peace  of  the  world.  Their 
tendency  was  as  follows  :  Russia  to  conquer 
in  Asia  as  much  as  she  pleased.  Napoleon  to 
take  Spain  and  Portugal,  including  Gibraltar. 
Russia  to  assist  France  to  hold  Malta,  and  no 
peace  to  be  granted  to  England  until  she 
surrendered  it.  The  Mediterranean  to  be 
navigated  by  French,  Russian,  Spanish  and 
Italian  vessels  only.  Egypt  to  be  given  to 
France  and  Turkey  to  Russia.  The  bait  was 
too  tempting  for  Alexander  to  resist ;  and 
thus,  while  EngUsh  subsidies  in  his  treasury 
were  as  yet  unexhausted,  without  the  slightest 
excuse  he  lent  himself  to  aid  Napoleon  to 
destroy  her.  He  threatened  to  revive  the 
armed  neutrality,  and  insisted  that  the  Danish 
fleet  taken  at  Copenhagen  should  be  given  up. 
On  England's  refusal,  he  declared  war.  But 
his  trade  was  annihilated  by  the  British  fleet, 
his  squadron  in  the  Tagus  surrendered,  and 
he  was  shut  up  in  the  Baltic.  Still,  EngUsh 
money  again  flowed  in  when  he  and  Napoleon 
quarrelled  ;  indeed,  if  it  had  not  been  for  this 
and  the  Treaty  of  Bucharest,  which  liberated 
the  army  acting  against  the  Turks,  the  result 


k 


h 


NAPOLEON  INVADES  RUSSIA    121 

of  the  French  invasion  might  have  terminated 
very  differently.  It  is  inconceivable  that  the 
Turks  should  have  made  peace  at  a  period  so 
advantageous  for  their  enemy,  especially  as 
the  terms  were  not  favourable  to  themselves. 

Napoleon  resolved  to  subdue  Spain.  In 
1808  he  strengthened  his  alliance  with  Alex- 
ander, and  the  two  sovereigns  concluded  a 
treaty  by  which  Napoleon  acknowledged  the 
three  provinces  invaded  by  Russia  as  being 
an  integral  part  of  the  Russian  Empire,  and 
Alexander,  in  return,  acknowledged  the  Na- 
poleonic dynasty  in  Spain.  Austria,  in  the 
meanwhile,  formed  a  fifth  coalition  with 
England,  which  drew  Napoleon  from  the 
Spanish  peninsula.  The  decisive  Battle  of 
Wagram  again  brought  that  Empire  into 
complete  subjection,  and  was  succeeded  by  the 
Peace  of  Schonbrunn. 

The  breach  between  Alexander  and  Na- 
poleon, which  led  to  the  sixth  coalition  against 
the  latter,  originated  with  the  dispossession 
of  the  Duke  of  Oldenburg,  brother-in-law 
to  Alexander.  The  breach  widened,  and 
on  the  25th  June,  1812,  Napoleon  crossed 
the  Niemen  at  the  head  of  four  hundred 
thousand  men  and  defeated  the  Russians  at 
Smolensk*,  and  soon  after  at  the  great  Battle 
of  Borodino,  which  gave  him  the  entry  to 


.11 


m 


\ 


122 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Moscow.  The  city  was  deserted,  and  Na- 
poleon entered  the  KremHn  without  resistance, 
where  he  hoped  to  establish  his  winter  quarters 
and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  victories.  But 
frightful  conflagrations  broke  out,  and  the 
city  sank  in  flames.  As  it  no  longer  afforded 
an  asylum  against  the  coming  winter,  Na- 
poleon ordered  a  retreat  across  the  war-worn 
road  through  which  he  had  come.  The  army 
proceeded  in  pretty  good  order  as  far  as  the 
Beresina,  though  ceaselessly  harassed  by 
clouds  of  Cossacks  and  starving  through  want 
of  supplies.  There  the  cold  attacked  them 
with  unprecedented  severity,  and  the  retreat 
became  nothing  more  than  a  disorganized 
flight.  Napoleon  himself,  feeling  that  his 
presence  was  necessary  at  Paris,  in  order  to 
quell  disaffections,  quitted  the  army  on 
the  5th  December,  and  arrived  at  Wilna 
destitute  of  everything,  and  thence  proceeded 
to  Paris,  where  he  raised  another  army,  and 
took  the  field  again  in  the  ensuing  spring, 

Prussia  now  joined  the  coalition  against 
him,  but  he  won  the  brilliant  victories  of 
Lutzen,  Bautzen,  and  Wurschen,  and  negoti- 
ations were  opened  at  Prague.  Napoleon 
suddenly  dissolved  this  Congress  after  it  had 
sat  a  short  time,  and  then  Austria  also  deserted 
him.    Still,  wherever  he  commanded  in  person 


CONGRESS   OF   VIENNA         123 

he  was  a  victor,  as  at  the  splendid  Battle  of 
Dresden.  But  the  allies,  who  now  had 
numerical  superiority,  defeated  his  marshals 
in  turn.  A  final  battle  was  fought  under  the 
walls  of  Leipzic,  where  nearly  half  a  million 
men  were  engaged  and  the  French  were  out- 
numbered by  two  to  one  and  grievously 
defeated.  Napoleon  afterwards  raised  another 
army  and  won  some  more  brilliant  victories  ; 
but  this  does  not  immediately  concern  the 
history  of  Russia,  though  Russian  troops  were 
with  the  allies  who  were  invading  France, 
nor  does  his  abdication. 

At  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  where  the  allies 
met  after  the  abdication,  the  Emperor 
Alexander  presided.  Its  object  was  to  divide 
the  spoils  of  the  great  Empire  of  Napoleon. 
Russia  obtained  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Warsaw, 
under  the  name  of  the  Kingdom  of  Poland 
and  with  the  pledge  of  governing  it  in  a  con- 
stitutional manner.  It  was  at  the  instance 
of  Alexander  that  Napoleon  was  allowed  to 
retain  the  Imperial  title  when  the  Island  of 
Elba  was  assigned  to  him.  The  Powers  had 
not  assembled  for  long  at  Vienna,  and  had 
already  begun  to  disagree  on  the  details  of  the 
division  of  Europe,  when  tidings  arrived  of 
the  escape  of  Napoleon  from  Elba.  The 
Congress  was  broken  up,  and  they  all  united 


124  RUSSIA'S  STORY 

to  face  the  common  foe,  whom  they  pro- 
nounced to  be  an  enemy  to  the  tranquillity  of 
the  world.  Each  Power  stipulated  to  con- 
tribute its  quota  to  the  million  of  men  to  be 
raised  against  him,  and  Russia  engaged  to 
furnish  one  hundred  thousand.  But  Waterloo 
was  won  while  the  Russians  were  yet  a  long 
way  off— if,  indeed,  mobilized  ;  and  so  she 
did  not  share  in  the  final  crushing  of  the  man 
who  had  been  the  scourge  of  Europe  for  more 
than  twenty  years.  The  Emperor  Alexander 
participated  with  the  other  Continental 
Powers  in  becoming  a  member  of  the  Holy 
Alliance — that  agreement  formed  nominally 
for  the  maintenance  of  religion,  peace  and 
justice,  but  in  reality  for  the  crushing  of  free 
aspirations  and  the  maintenance  of  despotism, 
and  which  the  signatory  powers  made  an 
excuse  for  meddUng  with  the  liberties  of  the 
various  peoples  and  encouraging  the  monarch- 
ical system. 

In  1820  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  from 
Russia,  owing  to  their  designs  and  intrigues 
to  obtain  proselytes,  the  Czar  being  an 
advocate  for  Uberty  of  conscience,  though 
jly  imbned  w^^^  rpliginn<;  principles. 

In  1821  Alexander  appropriated  the  coast 
.on  the  West  of  North  America,  now  known  as 
"Russian  America.    None  of  thejowers  Qb*^ 


THE   HOLY  ALLIANCE        125 

jected  to  this,  but  England  and  the  United 
States  took  umbrage  at  his  declaration  because 
he  claimed  the  monopoly  of  fishing  north  of 
the  Aleutian  Isles.  However,  the  matter  was 
amicably  settled,  and  the  right  of  fishing 

shared. 

In  1822  the  signatory  powers  of  the  Holy 
Alliance  met  at  Verona  to  discuss  the  pro- 
priety of  interfering  with  Turkey  in  her  war 
with  Greece.     The  Emperor  Alexander    on 
that  occasion  said  to  Chateaubriand,  *'  that 
God  had  not  placed  at  his  disposal   eight 
hundred  thousand  men  to  gratify  his  ambition, 
but  to   protect   religion  and  right,''   words 
utterly  at  variance  with  his  past  conduct,  for 
with  what  object  should  he  have  schemed 
with  Napoleon  as  to  the  division  of  Turkey 
by   force   of  arms,   and  the   annexation  of 
Sweden,  except  to  gratify  his  ambition  ;  with 
what  purpose,  also,  were  his  acquisitions  in 
the  East  made.    Yet  on  the  whole  he  was  un- 
deniably a  kind  liberal-minded  and  humane 
man,  and  one  of  the  best  of  the  Russian  rulers. 
His  reign  was  a  progressive  one,  during  which 
the  condition  of  the  serfs  was  improved  and 
several  Universities  were  founded.    They  say 
he  shed  tears,  and  was  bitterly  affected  to 
witness  the  deplorable  state  of  the  French 
army  when  it  reached  Riga,  on  retreating 


ii 


f^i 


126 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


from  Moscow.  He  abolished  serfdom  alto- 
gether in  some  parts  of  his  dominions,  though 
he  did  not  consider  his  country  in  a  sufficient 
state  of  advancement  to  justify  his  doing 
away  with  it  altogether,  and  we  hear  of  no 
unjust  executions  or  banishments  by  his 
orders. 

His  private  Ufe  was  not  happy,  in  spite  of 
his  reUgious  principles.  He  deserted  his  wife 
Ehzabeth  for  a  Polish  lady,  the  Countess 
Navarshkin,  who  was  unfaithful  to  him,  and 
whose  only  daughter  by  him,  to  whom  he  was 
deeply  attached,  died  of  consumption  at  the 
early  age  of  eighteen. 

The  number  of  secret  societies — and,  con- 
sequently, of  conspiracies — increasing  at  the 
close  of  his  reign  made  him  uneasy  and  sus- 
picious and  led  to  the  dismissal  of  his  admir- 
able minister,  Spiranski,  and  his  putting 
affairs  into  the  hands  of  Arakchezen,  who 
instituted  miUtary  colonies  and  caused  dis- 
affection throughout  the  Empire. 

He  went  to  Taganrog  for  the  sake  of  his 
health,  and  soon  after  became  ill ;  he  refused 
advice  at  first,  got  worse  rapidly,  and  died  in 
November,  1825 — his  last  hours  being  em- 
bittered by  the  revelation  of  another  con- 
spiracy. His  consort,  Elizabeth,  survived  him 
five  months. 


1 


NICHOLAS— PLOT  AGAINST  HIM  127 

NICHOLAS   I   (1825-1855) 

In  accordance  with  the  law  of  succession 
as  altered  by  Paul,  his  brother  Constantine 
was  heir,  but  he  refused  the  honour  on  the 
ground  of  incapacity,  and  the  next  brother, 
Nicholas,  became  Czar  of  all  the  Russias. 
Nicholas  was  no  sooner  seated  on  the  throne 
than  a  plot  was  hatched  to  overthrow  him.  Its 
professed  object  was  to  give  the  sovereignty 
to  Constantine  ;  but,  considering  he  had  re- 
fused it  already,  that  could  scarcely  be  the 
case.  It  really  was  organized  to  reform  in- 
ternal abuses  and  give  Russia  a  more  consti- 
tutional government.  This  appears  from  the 
examination  of  some  of  the  prisoners  after  its 
suppression.  For  example,  Nicholas  said  to 
one  of  them,  ''  Bestujef,  I  would  pardon  you 
if  I  only  knew  I  should  possess  a  faithful  sub- 
ject hereafter."  ''  Why,  sire,  that  is  just  what 
we  complain  of ;  there  is  no  law :  the 
Emperor  can  pardon  or  punish  as  he  pleases." 
On  a  remark  another  made,  Grand  Duke 
Michael  exclaimed  :  *'  That  fellow  ought  to 
have  his  mouth  stopped  with  a  bayonet." 
"  You  have  asked  us,  then,"  said  the  prisoner, 
''  why  we  desire  a  constitution  ;  it  is  in  order 
that  things  hke  that  should  not  be  said." 
This  insurrection  was  not  suppressed  without 


( 


M 


'   ii* 


r\ 


i. 


128 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


much  loss  of  life,  it  having  spread  amongst 
the  soldiers  and  obtained  considerable  pro- 
portions. The  bodies  of  the  fallen  were  cast 
into  the  Neva  by  hundreds  ;  holes  in  the  ice 
having  been  made  for  that  purpose.  Colonel 
Pestal,  who  was  at  the  head  of  it,  and  thirty- 
five  others,  were  hanged,  and  the  rest  pun- 
ished with  more  or  less  severity.  A  beauti- 
ful hymn — set  to  music,  once  popular  in 
England — has  been  composed  about  Pestal, 
beginning : 

"  The  morning  breaks,  the  day  for  me 
Which  has  no  morrow." 

The  foreign  policy  of  Nicholas  commenced 
by  a  war  with  Persia  in  1826,  in  which  the 
Russians  were  easily  victorious,  and  the 
Provinces  of  Erivan  and  Nachitschevan  were 
added  to  the  Empire,  and  eighty  million 
roubles  to  the  Treasury. 


INTERFERENCE  WITH  TURKEY 

The  interference  in  the  Greek  rebellion  was 
the  most  important  matter  in  the  earlier 
portion  of  this  reign.  In  April,  1826,  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  and  Count  Nesselrode 
had  signed  the  first  protocol  which  led  to  the 
Treaty  of  London. 


BATTLE   OF   NAVARINO       129 

England,  France,  and  Russia  sent  squadrons 
to  the  Levant,  where  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian 
fleet   lay   under   the   command  of  Ibrahim 
Pacha.     There  was  an  arrangement  that  it 
should  remain  there  till  the  affairs  of  Greece 
were  settled.    The  Turks  attempted  to  violate 
this    agreement    and    an    engagement    took 
place  in  the  Bay  of  Navarino,  on  the  27th 
October,    1827,    in   which   the   Turkish  and 
Egyptian  fleets  were  destroyed.     Next  year 
Prince    Wittegenstein,    with    150,000    men, 
\        entered  the  principalities,  and  General  Paski- 
ovitch  took  Kars.    Complete  success  attended 
the  Russian  arms,  for  Turkey  was  worn  out 
by    her     preceding    struggle    with    Greece. 
Varna  fell,  and  also  Erzeroum  in  Asia.     In 
1829  the  Balkans  were  crossed,  and  General 
Diebitsch    occupied    Adrianople    with    little 
opposition.     Had  the  Turks  been  well  led  or 
fought  better  the  Russian  army  south  of  the 
Balkans  would   have   been  annihilated,   for 
their  numbers  were  terribly  thinned  by  sick- 
ness ;  and  although  their  situation  at  Adrian- 
ople was  most  precarious,  yet  they  managed 
to  conclude  an  advantageous  treaty  which 
takes  its  name  from  that  place  and  which 
burdened  Turkey  with  a  heavy  debt  and  gave 
to  Russia  Anapa,  Poti,  and  some  coast-Une 
on  the  Black  Sea,  and  in  many  minor  details 


Mil 


I30  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

tended    to    spread   her    influence    over    the 
Ottoman  Empire  and  its  dependencies. 

REBELLION   IN   POLAND 

No  sooner  was  peace  with  Turkey  made 
than  a  violent  revolution  broke  out  in  Poland. 
The    Grand    Duke    Constantine    of    Russia, 
though  he  had  ten  thousand  men  to  back  him, 
evacuated  Warsaw,  and  the  Poles  had  it  all 
their  own  way  until  General  Diebitsch  arrived 
with  an  army  of  120,000  men  to  oppose  about 
fifty   thousand— all   the    Poles   could   raise. 
But  they  fought  with  the  utmost  bravery  ; 
a  battle  was  won  at  Wavel  and  another  at 
Grochow,  and  it  seemed  as  though  the  gallant 
little  kingdom  was  going  to  sUp  out  of  the 
Czar's  hand  altogether.     The  overflowing  of 
the  Vistula  for  some  time  suspended  hostil- 
ities.   Nevertheless,  directly  they  could  cross 
it  the  Poles  recommenced  their  successes ; 
not  only  did  they  win  in  many  minor  en- 
counters, but  gained  a  great  victory  at  Izanie, 
where  three  thousand  Russians  were  slam. 
General  Divernicki,  who  led  the  right  division, 
especially  distinguished  himself  for  his  courage 
and   daring;    but   ultimately   being   driven 
across  the  Austrian  frontier  Wwas  compelled 
to  lay  down  his  arms  to  the  Austrians.    They 


POLISH    REBELLION 


131 


say,  as  he  and  his  fellow-prisoners  passed 
through  Pressburg  the  enthusiasm  was  im- 
mense ;  the  ladies  plucked  the  buttons  from 
his  coat  and  hung  them  in  gold  chains  from 
their  necks.  Skrzynecki,  the  PoUsh  com- 
mander-in-chief, then  gained  a  long-contested 
battle  at  Ostrolenka,  in  which  the  Russians  lost 
ten  thousand  men  and  the  Poles  lost  seven 
thousand.  Irritation  at  his  repeated  defeats, 
or  the  cholera,  killed  Diebitsch,  and  the  Grand 
Duke  Constantine  died  soon  after.  Their 
repeated  victories  had  so  thinned  the  Polish 
ranks,  while  the  Russians  were  replenished 
by  newly  levied  masses,  that  the  odds  became 
too  great  and  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to 
obtain  further  successes ;  the  insurrection 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  Warsaw  and  the 
submission  of  Poland  to  the  Czar. 


THE   NUNS   OF   MINSK 

The  journals  and  reviews  of  the  period 
abound  with  details  of  how  replete  was  the 
measure  of  vengeance  ;  how  men,  women 
and  children  were  sent  en  masse  to  die  in  the 
mines  of  Siberia.    How  many 

A  Polish  mother  sat  and  wept, 
Afar  in  wild  Siberia's  land, 


132 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


and  how,  contrary  to  the  privileges  given  by 
the  late  Emperor  Alexander,  Poland  was  in- 
corporated with  Russia.  No  doubt  the 
vanquished  were  treated  with  great  cruelty, 
and  severities  were  extended  to  many  who 
had  no  share  in  the  rebellion.  For  the 
behaviour  towards  the  nuns  of  Minsk,  for 
example,  there  is  no  excuse.  Their  religion — 
called  the  Uniate,  or  United  Greek  Church — 
was  a  schism  which  had  placed  itself  in  com- 
munion with  Rome,  and  which  the  Czar  was 
resolved  to  root  out .  One  day  soldiers  entered 
their  establishment  and  made  them  chose 
between  reformation  or  Siberia.  The  lady 
abbess,  scorning  the  offer,  bid  her  flock 
prepare  to  go.  They  were  ironed  in  couples 
by  the  hands  and  feet,  put  to  the  hardest  and 
cruellest  work,  and  with  food  so  scanty  that 
the  very  beggars  brought  them  bread.  As 
this  would  not  make  them  renegades,  they 
were  ordered  to  be  flogged  twice  a  week,  fifty 
lashes  at  a  time.  They  were  then  confined  in 
dungeons  full  of  worms  and  vermin  which 
crawled  over  their  bodies  as  they  slept.  They 
were  made  to  bring  water  from  the  river, 
holding  the  jars  at  arms  length  lest  the  water 
should  be  polluted.  Often  their  strength 
failed  them,  and  they  could  not ;  then  their 
tormentors  threw  the  water  over  them  and 


THE   CAUCASUS 


133 


made  them  fetch  more.  In  winter  their 
clothes— which  they  were  not  allowed  to 
change — often  turned  into  sheets  of  ice.  It 
is  endless  to  recount  the  ingenuity  and  number 
of  the  barbarities  they  suffered.  Many  were 
stripped  and  flogged  till  they  died.  At  last 
three  or  four  escaped  and  arrived  at  Posen, 
where  they  told  the  worid  their  story. 

The  Caucasus  had  long  been  desired  by 
Russia.  The  mountaineers  barred  her  from 
the  South  and  at  their  pleasure  they  could 
open  or  shut  the  passage  to  Asia.  Besides, 
they  were  continually  making  raids  against 
the  Russian  garrisons.  Therefore,  when  the 
disturbance  in  Poland  was  quelled  the  Govern- 
ment turned  their  attention  to  that  quarter. 
But,  though  immensely  superior  in  arms, 
men,  and  artillery,  the  bravery  of  the  moun- 
taineers was  such  that  they  could  make  no 
impression.  The  number  of  soldiers  their 
attempts  at  subjugation  cost  them  has  been 
carefully  concealed  from  the  world. 

In  1833  Muhammed  Ali  Pacha,  Viceroy  of 
Egypt,  revolted  against  the  Porte  ;  his  arms 
were  so  successful  that  the  Sultan  was  obliged 
to  accept  aid  wherever  he  could  get  it.  Here, 
then,  was  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the 
Czar's  interference.  The  advances  of  the 
Pacha  were  at  once  stayed,  and  the  Treaty  of 


134 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Unkiar  Skelessi  was  concluded,  by  which  the 
Porte  undertook  to  close  the  Dardanelles  in 
favour  of  Russia  against  all  foreign  vessels  of 
war.  Further  dissensions  arising  between  the 
Sultan  and  the  Pacha,  England  and  France 
took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  in  a  Convention 
held  in  London  this  treaty  was  imphedly  set 
aside,  and  the  Sultan  undertook  to  admit  no 
foreign  vessel  of  war  so  long  as  the  Porte 
was  at  peace. 

In  1840  an  expedition  against  Khiva  was 
undertaken,  which  turned  out  to  be  a  failure, 
and  in  1844  the  Czar  visited  England.  The 
Eastern  question  was  then  discussed,  but 
none  knew  the  formidable  proportions  it 
would  assume  in  a  few  years. 

HUNGARIAN   REBELLION 

Russia  appeared  next  on  the  European 
stage  in  aiding  to  suppress  the  Hungarian 
rebellion  under  Kossuth  and  Georgey.  Her 
reason  for  doing  so  was  to  support  the 
principle  of  monarchy,  for  at  that  season  the 
events  of  1848  had  caused  considerable  un- 
easiness. The  Hungarians,  who  had  already 
defeated  the  Austrians,  might  also  have 
beaten  the  Russians  had  it  not  been  for  the 
treachery   of  Georgey.     As  it  was,  the  in- 


CRIMEAN   WAR  135 

surrection  was  put  down,  and  Russia  was 
rewarded  by  the  neutraUty  of  Austria  in  the 
Crimean  War,  though  Russia  considered  that 
neutrality  to  be  both  unfriendly  and  un- 
grateful, seeing  that  she  had  saved  the 
Austrian  Empire  from  dismemberment  and 
deemed  that  she  should  have  assisted  her 
against  England  and  France. 

CRIMEAN    WAR 

Soon  after  Louis  Napoleon  was  established 
on  the  throne  of  France  he  began  to  take  steps 
to  secure  the  goodwill  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 
Owing  to  this  a  dispute  arose  between  him- 
self and  Nicholas  as  to  the  possession  of  the 
holy  places.    The  Czar,  as  head  of  the  Greek 
Church,    had    long    been    endeavouring    to 
obtain  from  the  Sultan  concessions,  giving 
that  Church  the  principal  authority.    Though 
the  Latin  community  was  much  smaller  than 
the  Greek,  the  Emperor  of  the  French  claimed 
for  them  an  equal  right.    This  quarrel  would 
no  doubt  have  been  arranged  amicably  had 
not  the  rapacity  of  Nicholas  induced  him  to 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  principahties 
and  to  concentrate  armies  in  Bessarabia.   The 
best  Russian  generals  were  defeated  by  Omar 
Pacha  at  Oltenitza,  and  on  other  occasions 


r.jmi'ammmaw'^ 


136 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


and  the  Czar,  irritated  to  excess,  found  it  im- 
possible to  make  progress.     Meanwhile  Eng- 
land and  France  had  declared  war,  and  their 
forces  began  slowly  to  assemble  at  Gallipoli 
and  then  at  Scutari  and  Varna,  while  their 
fleets  proceeded  to  the  Black  Sea  and  the 
Baltic.    The  Turkish  fleet  was  destroyed  by 
the  Russians  at  Sinope  with  a  loss  of  four 
thousand  men  ;  but  the  allies  in  return  bom- 
barded Odessa,  while  in  the  Baltic  Bomarsund 
was  destroyed.    Their  armies,  not  being  any 
longer  required  at  Varna,  as  all  danger  of  the 
Russians    crossing    the    Danube    was    over, 
meditated  a  descent  into  the  Crimea.    They 
were  not  opposed  at  landing,  and  after  a  deter- 
mined  resistance    captured    the   heights   of 
Alma.    Many  think  that  had  they  proceeded 
directly  to  Sebastopol  it  would  have  capitu- 
lated, and  the  war  have   been  terminated. 
However  they  did  not  do  so,  but  took  up  a 
position  at  Balaclava.     Marshal  St.  Arnaud, 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  allied  armies, 
resolved  to  attack  Sebastopol  on  the  north 
side.    The  siege  began  on  the  17th  October, 
1854,    and    on    the    25th    was    fought    the 
Battle  of  Balaclava,  in  which  the  Russians 
were   beaten  while    attempting   to   cut  the 
alUes    off    from    the    town    by    capturing 
the  Turkish  redoubts.    On  the  5th  Novem- 


TREATY  OF   PARIS 


137 


/ 


ber  with  fifty  thousand  men  they  sur- 
prised the  EngUsh  camp  at  Inkerman,  but 
after  an  attack  lasting  several  hours,  though 
vastly  superior  in  numbers,  could  make 
no  impression,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the 
French  retreated  in  confusion,  with  a  loss  of 
fifteen  thousand  killed  and  wounded.  Nicholas 
died  on  the  2nd  March,  1855,  and  Alexander 
succeeded. 


ALEXANDER   II   (1855-1881) 

The  war  was  continued  :  the  i8th  June 
witnessed  the  unsuccessful  attempts  on  the 
Malakoff  and  Redan,  and  the  final  bom- 
bardment took  place  on  the  5th  September, 
1855.  In  March,  1856,  a  Treaty  was  con- 
cluded at  Paris  neutraUzing  the  Black  Sea 
(which  clause  was  abrogated  by  the  conven- 
tion of  London  in  1871),  setthng  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Danube,  by  the  cession  of 
Sulina  and  Kilia  to  the  State,  to  be  called 
Roumania  later,  rectifying  the  Russian 
frontier  on  the  south  by  taking  from  her  a 
portion  of  Bessarabia.  England  is  said  to 
have  lost  mihtary  prestige  by  this  war,  and, 
no  doubt,  many  blunders,  such  as  the  charge 
of  the  Light  Brigade  and  the  mismanagement 
of  the  commissariat  department,  were  com- 


'•mnmtkm 


138 


RUSSIANS   STORY 


mitted.     Yet  we  must  remember  that  the 
allied  troops  were,  on  the  whole,  successful ; 
and  that  Russia,  fighting  in  her  own  territory 
and   with   a   vast    superiority   in   point    of 
numbers,  was  worsted  in  almost  every  en- 
counter,   and,    further,    that    England    and 
France  did  not  put  forth  their  full  strength. 
Perhaps  the  advantages  which  might  have 
been  expected  were  not  reaped  by  the  treaty, 
for  Russia  was  so  exhausted  that  she  could 
not  have  protracted  the  contest  much  longer. 
Nevertheless,  the  fortifications  and  stores  of 
Sebastopol  were  destroyed,  and  it  was  ren- 
dered incapable  of  being  a  menance  to  Con- 
stantinople again.    During  the  twenty  years 
which  elapsed  between  that  time  and  the  next 
war  with  Turkey  the  Czar  devoted  himself  to 
internal  reforms. 

The  desire  of  Alexander  I  to  abolish  serf- 
dom was  carried  out  by  Alexander  II.  In 
1861  twenty-three  milUon  serfs  obtained 
Hberty,  a  reform  which  also  had  been  medi- 
tated by  Nicholas.  The  landlords,  on  receiv- 
ing  an  indemnity,  released  the  serfs  from  their 
seignorial  obligations,  and  the  lands  of  each 
village  commune  became  their  property. 

By  a  treaty  with  China  in  1858  Russia 
acquired  all  the  left  bank  of  the  River  Amur 
and  a  new  port,  named  Vladivostock,  was 


.^.> 


Ai.i:\am)i:k  II 
Rei^neii    1S55-18S1.       Assassinated   18S1 


lo  jacf  pait  138 


POLISH    REBELLION 


139 


created.  Also  the  country  became  threaded 
with  railways,  which  though  built  chiefly  for 
military  purposes,  and  which  have  added 
enormously  to  her  liabilities,  have  also  been 
instrumental  in  bringing  together  the  various 
peoples  of  her  vast  Empire.  Her  military 
history  since  the  Crimean  War  until  the 
present  struggle  confines  itself  to  another 
insurrection  in  Poland,  to  the  war  with 
Turkey  in  1877,  and  that  with  Japan  in  1904. 

Poland  had  been  for  years  in  a  disturbed 
state,  and  even  before  1863  the  Russian 
Government  was  aware  that  a  secret  political 
agitation  was  going  on,  and  in  order  to  stifle 
it  they  took  advantage  of  the  periodical  con- 
scription to  send  away  all  young  men  who 
were  supposed  to  be  sympathetic  with  the 
movement.  Many  of  these  escaped  and 
formed  themselves  into  armed  bands,  making 
the  Austrian  and  Prussian  frontiers  the  bases 
of  their  operations.  Prussia  being  under 
Russian  influence  at  that  time,  executed  a 
convention  with  Russia,  allowing  Russian 
troops  to  follow  the  insurgents  into  Prussian 
territory. 

Austria,  who  got  but  little  advantage  by 
the  original  partition  of  Poland,  assumed  a 
neutral  attitude.  The  Polish  cause  was  mOst 
popular  in  England  and  France.     Meetings 


h 


140 


RUSSIANS  STORY 


were  held  in  England  in  which  responsible 
men  took  part,  urging  that  England,  as  a 
signatory  Power  to  the  Treaty  of  Vienna  of 
1815,  should  call  on  Russia  to  recognize  the 
rights  secured  to  Poland  by  that  treaty.    The 
Emperor  Napoleon  would  have  gone  to  war 
had  England  joined  him,  and  his  attitude 
deeply  wounded  the  Czar's  susceptibilities. 
The  French  people  were  especially  enthusi- 
astic for  Poland.     Prince  Napoleon  in  the 
Senate    urged    intervention.      Montalembert 
called  Poland  "  the  nation  in  mourning."    A 
dispatch  was  drawn  up  by  Lord  Russell  draw- 
ing the  attention  of  the  Russian  Government 
to  six  proposals.    But  Lord  Palmerston,  mis- 
trusting the  Emperor  of  the  French,  would 
not  interfere  further,   and  the  insurrection 
being  unsupported  was  crushed  with  great 
severity.     After  a  gallant  struggle,  hundreds 
of  prisoners  (male  and  female)  were  shot, 
flogged,  or  sent  to  Siberia.    Perhaps  greater 
severity    was    used    because    of    the    feeble 
remonstrances  of  the  Western  Powers.    From 
that  period  the  fear  of  Russian  aggression 
was  for  some  years  the  bugbear  of  Europe. 
Had   England  and   France   set   their  hands 
down  firmly  on  that  favourable  opportunity, 
and  insisted  on  a  rectification  of  the  wrongs 
of  Poland,  a  State,  semi-sovereign  and  entirely 


CAUCASUS   SUBDUED 


141 


independent,  in  that  advantageous  geogra- 
phical situation,  would  have  acted  as  an 
additional  check  to  Russian  encroachments 
and  the  development  of  monarchical  prin- 
ciples. The  warding  off  of  England  and 
France  was  greatly  due  to  the  assistance 
Bismarck  rendered  to  Prince  Gorchakoff, 
with  the  result  that  St.  Petersburg  and  BerUn 
became  most  friendly,  a  friendship  which 
lasted  till  1878. 

RUSSIA   IN   THE   EAST 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  Crimean  War  it 
was  announced  to  the  world  that  the  Russian 
poUcy  would  forthwith  be  peaceable  and 
devoted  to  internal  reforms — a  policy  in- 
augurated by  the  abolition  of  serfdom.  Yet 
at  that  very  time,  in  1856,  the  Czar  sent 
eighteen  thousand  men  to  break  down  the 
barriers  of  the  Caucasus  and  open  for  the 
Empire  the  plains  and  cities  of  Asia.  Three 
years  it  took  to  subdue  the  brave  Circassians, 
who  fought  for  their  mountain  homes.  In 
September,  1859,  ^^e  illustrious  Schamyl, 
who  had  become  I  man,  the  sacred  ruler  of 
the  country,  in  1834,  ^^^  who  had  shown 
considerable  administrative  ability,  was  taken 
prisoner,  and  the  command  of  the  eastern 
as  well  as  of  the  western  shores  of  the  Caspian 


.»*pPpr 


■^^  r  "^Hlftfi^^^^J  *y *  Ti> ' 


..^.fejK  - 


I: 


142  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

acquired.      Many    Circassians,    sooner    than 
submit  to  Russian  domination,  emigrated. 

Then  commenced  the  advance  in  the  direc- 
tion of  India.  Stealthily  Russian  armies 
crept  along  the  banks  of  rivers  famous  in 
ancient  history.  In  1865  she  annexed  the 
Khanate  of  Toshkand,  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Chirchik,  with  a  population  of  three  miUions. 
In  1866  Khogend,  and  in  1867  Khokand  was 
seized.  Then  she  approached  Bokhara,  and 
defeated  the  Ameer.  Then  advancing  along 
the  Oxus  in  Central  Asia,  she  quartered  troops 
near  one  of  the  most  famous  and  sacred  of 
cities,  Samarcand,  and  on  the  Governor 
remonstrating  the  city  was  taken  in  1868. 
This  created  a  great  sensation,  and  was 
evidently  done  to  strike  terror  amongst  the 
potentates  and  people  of  Asia.  Owing  to  this, 
remonstrances  were  made  by  Lord  Granville, 
to  the  effect  that  Russia  was  approaching  the 
northern  borders  of  the  Oxus,  and  inquiries 
as  to  whether  they  were  going  any  farther. 
Prince  Gortschakoff  said  '*  No,"  and  that 
Afghanistan,  which  had  been  involved  in 
civil  war  since  the  death  of  Dost  Mahommed 
in  1863,  was  completely  outside  Russian 
influence. 

In  1869  a  naval  fort  had  been  estabUshed 
on  the  Caspian  at  Krasnovodjk,  and  in  1870 


ANDRASSY   NOTE 


143 


another  at  Ichikislar  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Atrek,  close  to  the  Persian  frontier.  In  1872 
Lord  Loftus  represented  to  the  EngUsh 
Government  that  preparations  were  being 
made  to  take  Khiva.  This  Prince  Gort- 
schakoff denied,  adding  that  the  Czar  had 
issued  orders  that  Khiva  was  not  to  be 
touched,  and  yet  in  two  months  it  was 
stormed,  and  the  whole  territory  annexed 
shortly  after.  This  act  was,  however,  accepted 
by  England,  Khiva  being  a  thousand  miles 
from  the  Indian  frontier,  and  a  promise  being 
again  given  that  there  should  be  no  further 
advance. 


ANDRASSY   NOTE 

Turkish  rule  was  becoming  more  and  more 
distasteful  to  many  populations  under  the 
sway  of  the  Sultan,  various  nationalities 
being  huddled  together  and  agreeing  in 
nothing  but  common  hatred  of  Ottoman 
rule.  In  July,  1875,  disturbances  broke  out 
in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  and  they  spread 
rapidly.  Count  Andrassy  drew  up  a  note  to 
the  Porte  (December  30,  1875),  in  which  the 
three  Empires  stated  that  the  Porte  had  never 
carried  out  its  promises  of  reform,  and  some 
combined  action  of  the  European  Powers  was 
necessary,  as  her  rule  over  her  subject  pro- 


^ 


144 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


i  . 


vinces  was  most  incapable,  consisting  either 
of  extreme  oppression  or  the  total  relaxation 
of  authority.  Turkey  promised  to  undertake 
the  necessary  reforms,  but  that  was  all  she 
did.  Then  followed  the  Berlin  memorandum, 
pointing  out  the  increase  of  disturbance  and 
the  necessity  of  carrying  out  her  pledges. 
But  England  would  not  join  in  the  memor- 
andum, and  it  was  abandoned.  Soon  after 
Bulgaria  rebelled — a  rising,  which  was  crushed 
with  great  severity,  and  wholesale  massacre, 
which  was  revealed  to  the  world  by  the 
Daily  News  under  the  heading  of  **  Bulgarian 
Atrocities."  In  July,  1876,  Servia  and  Monte- 
negro declared  war  against  Turkey,  but  they 
also  were  crushed  with  ease,  although  materi- 
ally assisted  by  Russian  recruits.  Then 
followed  a  conference  of  the  Powers  at  Con- 
stantinople, equally  futile  in  its  results.  At 
last  Russia  declared  war,  nominally  with  a 
view  of  securing  the  safety  of  the  Christians 
under  Turkish  rule  and  restoring  general 
tranquillity.  The  Russians  successfully  crossed 
the  Danube,  and  appeared  at  first  to  be 
likely  to  carry  everything  before  them.  But 
afterwards  reverses  came.  They  had  under- 
valued the  fighting  powers  of  the  Turks. 
Defensive  works  were  thrown  up  at  Plevna 
by  Osman  Pasha,  and  the  Russians  were 


TREATY  OF  SAN  STEFANO   145 

repulsed  with  great  loss  there.  They  also 
met  with  other  defeats.  The  plan  of  campaign 
was  entrusted  to  General  Todleben,  who  had 
formerly  defended  Sebastopol,  and  the  tide 
turned.  Kars  fell  on  the  i8th  November, 
1877.  Plevna  was  reduced  soon  after,  and  the 
Russian  armies  got  within  sight  of  Con- 
stantinople. 

This  advance  made  England  bestir  herself. 
The  Mediterranean  fleet  moved  towards  the 
Dardanelles.  A  sum  of  six  millions  was  voted 
for  miUtary  expenses,  and  when  a  rumour 
arrived  that  the  Russians  were  actually 
moving  upon  Constantinople,  the  fleet  passed 
the  Dardanelles  and  anchored  within  a  few 
miles  of  that  city,  and  Great  Britain  and 
Russia  were  on  the  brink  of  war. 


TREATY   OF   SAN   STEFANO 

The  Treaty  of  San  Stefano,  by  which  Russia 
secured  almost  entire  independence  for  the 
Christian  provinces  and  the  creation  of  a 
great  Bulgarian  state,  was  signed  on  the 
3rd  March,  1878.  This  treaty  England  refused 
to  recognize,  as  giving  too  great  power  to 
Russia  in  the  south-east  of  Europe.  When 
war  seemed  inevitable,  England  having  called 
out  her  reserves  and  summoned  a  contingent 


HI 


146 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


of  Indian  troops  to  Europe,  Prince  Bismarck 
appeared  as  arbitrator,  proposing  that  a 
Congress  should  be  held  at  Berhn,  and  the 
Treaty  of  San  Stefano  discussed  there.  To 
this  Congress  the  EngUsh  Prime  Minister, 
Lord  Beaconsfield,  went  in  person,  and  the 
result  was  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  signed 
June  15,  1878,  Turkey  recognizing  the  inde- 
pendence of  Servia,  Roumania,  and  Monte- 
negro, making  Bulgaria  a  self-governing  state, 
under  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan,  giving  in 
Asia,  Ardahan,  Batoum,  and  Kars  to  Russia, 
and  so  much  of  Bessarabia  as  had  been  de- 
tached by  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  1856,  to  Russia, 
thus  restoring  to  her  everything  that  she  had 
lost  in  the  Crimean  War — the  Treaty  of 
London,  of  1871,  having  previously  rescinded 
those  clauses  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  which 
closed  the  Black  Sea  to  her  navy  and  its  shores 
to  her  arsenals,  a  rescission  which  was  greatly 
due  to  the  diplomacy  of  Bismarck,  which  was 
influenced  in  her  favour. 

Although  Bessarabia  was  recovered,  yet 
Russia  lost  prestige  in  this  war.  The  earlier 
reverses  sustained  by  her  through  the  spirited 
resistance  of  the  Turks,  and  the  fact  that  the 
threatening  attitude  of  England  and  Austria 
kept  her  off  Constantinople,  all  told  against 
her. 


ALEXANDER  ASSASSINATED    147 

The  close  of  the  Czar's  reign  was  disturbed 
by  plots  ;  one  attempt  on  his  hfe  had  been 
made  in  1867,  when  he  was  the  guest  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  at  the  Paris  Exhibition 
of  that  year  :  three  others  occurred  in  1879, 
and  the  last,  which  was  successful,  in  1881, 
he  being  destroyed  by  a  hand  grenade  thrown 
at  him  in  the  capital. 

He  was  an  excellent  ruler,  and  his  reign 
had  been  most  beneficial  to  his  subjects. 
His  murder  was  universally  condemned  as  a 
dastardly  crime,  its  perpetrators,  the  Nihil- 
ists, being  then  at  the  height  of  their  ex- 
cesses. 

His  only  daughter,  Mary,  became  the  wife 
of  the  second  son  of  Queen  Victoria,  the  Duke 
of  Edinburgh,  and  his  second  son,  Alexander, 
who  succeeded  him  (the  eldest  Nicholas  being 
dead),  was  married  to  a  sister  of  Queen 
Alexandria. 

ALEXANDER   III  (1881-1894) 

In  Alexander  HI  the  Russians  had  an 
honest  man  of  simple  tastes  and  amiable 
character,  but  he  never  sympathized  with 
liberaUsm,  and,  consequently,  his  pohcy  was 
reactionary.  The  chief  features  of  his  reign 
are  the  gradual  progress  of  Russia  in  Western 
Asia,  the  inauguration  of  the  Siberian  Rail- 


I  M^'«wi>' *'»"'. i>iirt»u 


-^# 


I  '\ 


148 


RUSSIANS   STORY 


way— a  great  engineering  feat,   which  was 
opened  in  1894— from  Chelyabinsk  to  Towsk. 

The  Nihihsts  continued  their  attempts 
against  the  Royal  Family,  and  the  consequent 
terrorism  to  which  the  Czar  was  subjected  is 
supposed  to  have  undermined  his  constitu- 
tion. 

There  was  a  certain  material  prosperity  m 
the  towns  in  this  reign.   Warsaw,  for  instance, 
nearly  tripled  its  population,   and  another 
step  was  the  gradual  Russification  of  the 
towns  of  the  Baltic  provinces  ;  but  the  most 
important  events  were  concentrated  in  the 
Balkan  Peninsula.     The  Czar  resented  the 
attempts  of  Austria  to  increase  her  influence 
there   which  had  been  partially  conceded  by 
Alexander  II,  by  the  Treaty  of  Reichstadt, 
in  Bohemia,  in  1876,  providing  that  if  Russia 
should  liberate  Bulgaria  by  force  of  arms, 
Austria  should  enter  into  possession  of  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina. 

MERV  TAKEN 

In  spite  of  her  promise  to  Great  Britain, 
Russia  continued  her  advance  along  the 
Northern  frontier.  She  sustained  several 
reverses  from  the  Turcomans,  till  in  1881 
General  Skobeloff,  after  a  terrible  battle, 
completely  crushed  them.     Geok  Tepe  and 


THE    PENJDEH    AFFAIR       149 

the  Akhal  Tekkeh  on  the  Persian  border  were 
annexed.  Merv  was  next  pounced  upon  in 
1884,  a  very  important  position,  commanding, 
as  it  does,  the  Valley  of  the  Murghab.  Then 
they  took  Sarakus,  commanding  the  Valley 
of  the  Heri-Rud. 

This  again  drew  the  attention  of  the  British 
Government  to  the  leaps  and  bounds  by 
which  Russia  was  getting  nearer  and  nearer 
to  India. 


THE   PENJDEH   AFFAIR 

The  tension  with  Great  Britain  in  1885 
arose  on  the  question  of  the  delimitation  of 
the  Afghan  boundary.  In  1872  a  frontier 
had  been  proposed  by  Lord  Granville  and 
accepted  by  Russia,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
it  should  be  defined  again  more  accurately. 
General  Zelenoi  was  to  represent  Russia  and 
Sir  Peter  Lumsden  England.  When  Sir  Peter 
arrived,  in  the  autumn  of  1884,  he  found  no 
Russian  coadjutor,  and  the  English  Com- 
mission waited  for  months  in  the  bleak 
regions  of  the  Murghab  and  Heri-Rud  for  the 
Russian  Commissioners,  who  delayed  their 
arrival  on  different  pretexts,  while  troops 
were  sent  daily  in  the  direction  of  Merv,  and 
having  crossed  the  frontier  agreed  upon  in 
1872,  took  up  positions  threatening  Herat — 


ISO 


RUSSIA'S  STORY 


I ' 


•^1 


the  province  which  bears  the  same  name  as 
the  capital,  being  the  most  fertile  in  Central 
Asia  and  where  an  army  could  obtain  food 
and  material,  and  whose  inhabitants,  if  trained, 
would  make  excellent  soldiers.  The  possession 
of  Herat  by  Russia  would  give  her  an  im- 
mense advantage,  should  she  meditate  a 
descent  upon  India  ;  all  conquerors  of  India, 
except  the  EngUsh,  have  passed  through 
Herat  :  it  was  the  central  trade  route  to  India 
and  the  former  capital  of  Central  Asia  ;  be- 
sides being  an  oasis  in  the  surrounding  deserts 
it  would  make  an  excellent  basis  for  military 
operations  from  the  north.  The  Russians  had 
fleets  on  the  Caspian  which  would  serve  as 
transports  in  time  of  war.  Railways  were 
being  put  down  in  the  direction  of  Sarakus, 
and  the  Une  already  ran  from  the  western 
bank  of  the  Caspian  to  the  most  important 
places  in  European  Russia,  thus  opening  a 
communication  with  all  the  arsenals  and 
fortresses  in  the  Empire  of  the  Czar. 

The  positions  which  the  Russians  seized 
were  Pul-i-Kishti,  Pul-i-Khatum  and  Zat- 
fagar.  At  this  England  made  strong  remon- 
strances. It  was  agreed,  however,  that  the 
Russian  troops  should  retain  their  positions 
during  the  settlement  of  the  frontier.  But 
General   Komoroff,   a  distinguished  soldier, 


KOMOROFF  DEFEATS  AFGHANS  151 

who   had   taken   over   the    command   from 
Colonel  Alikanoff  before  Ak  Tepe,  attacked  the 
Afghan  force  stationed  at  Penjdeh,  defeated 
them,  and  killed  five  hundred  or  more,  on  the 
thirtieth  of  March,  1885.     This  action  pro- 
duced a  rising  war  feeling  in  England,  and 
the  situation  became  very  menacing,  the  two 
countries    being    brought    to    the    verge    of 
hostilities.    This  was  the  occasion  on  which 
Mr.   Gladstone  laid  down  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  in  a  memorable  speech,  the  dictum, 
*'  We  will  not  close  this  book  until,  etc.,"  an 
explanation  and  apology  was  offered  for  the 
wanton  outrage.     However,  on  an  explana- 
tion   being    demanded.    General    Komoroff 
alleged  that  the  Afghans  were  the  aggressors, 
and,  further,  that  orders  to  stay  hostilities 
had  not  been  communicated  to  him.     The 
excuse  was  a  lame  one,  and  denied  by  Sir 
Peter  Lumsden  ;  but  the  matter  was  patched 
up  and  a  compromise  agreed  to,  to  the  effect 
that  the  dispute  should  be   settled  by  an 
arbitration,  which  never  came  off.    However, 
an  arrangement  was  effected,  England  agree- 
ing, with  the  consent  of  the  Ameer,  to  give  up 
her  claim  to  Penjdeh  and  Russia  to  Zulkikar, 
and  a  definite  limitation  of  the  frontier  was 
marked  out.    This  was  the  last  dispute  with 
Russia,  and  the  Russiphobia,  so  long  existing 


152 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


in  England,  may  be  said  to  have  commenced 
to  wane  since  then,  and  it  quite  died  out  after 
the  Russo-Japanese  War,  the  triple  entente 
supplanting  it,  and  now  Russia  and  England 
are  firm  allies,  though  very  recent  events  tend 
to  quaUfy  this  statement. 

The  health  of  the  Czar  gradually  declined, 
and  he  died  in  Livadia  on  the  first  of  Nov- 
ember, 1894,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest 
son,  Nicholas. 

NICHOLAS   II   (1894-I917) 

The  new  Czar,  and  probably  the  last, 
married  the  Princess  Mix  of  Hesse,  grand- 
daughter of  Queen  Victoria,  and  the  Czare- 
vitch was  born  in  1904. 

He  encouraged  the  Russification  of  Finland 
and  the  cementing  of  the  Franco-Russian 

Alliance. 

In  1898  the  King  of  Roumania,  with  his 
heir,  visited  St.  Petersburg.  The  Czar  sym- 
pathized with  his  father's  aspirations  for 
making  Russia  a  homogeneous  Empire,  and 
was  averse  to  prosecute  the  Jews  and  the 
schismatics.  Her  expansion  in  Asia,  stimu- 
lated by  the  construction  of  the  Trans- 
Siberian  Railway,  took  the  direction  of 
Northern  China  and  aimed  at  bringing  Man- 
churia under  Russian  influence.    She  objected 


JAPANESE   WAR  i53 

to  any  annexations  by  Japan,  and  obtained  a 
long  lease  of  Port  Arthur,  with  a  permission 
to  unite  it  to  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  by 
a  branch  line.  Japan  objected,  declaring  she 
would  never  tolerate  Russian  influence  to 
control  Manchuria. 

THE   WAR   WITH   JAPAN 

Russia  expected  the  Japanese  to  give  way, 
but  to  her  surprise  they  did  not,  and  the  war 
arose  from  Russia's  delay  in  answering  the 
proposals  of  Japan  for  recognizing  the  terri- 
torial integrity  and  independence  of  China  in 
Manchuria  and  in  the  Korea,  and  of  equal 
opportunities  being  afforded  for  both  Japan 
and  Russia  in  those  countries.  When  the 
reply  was  received  the  Korea  question  alone 
was  dealt  with,  and  Russia  was  invited  to 
reconsider  her  reply,  which  she  decUned  to  do. 
Japan  thereupon  severed  diplomatic  relations 
and  hostiUties  began  soon  after— on  the 
eighth  of  February,  1904. 

Japanese  successes  commenced  early.  The 
Russians  were  defeated  near  the  Ai  River, 
with  a  loss  of  over  2,600  men,  and  Feug- 
huang  -  Cheng,  with  its  large  stores,  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Japanese.  After  eight  days' 
fighting,  Kiu-Chau,  from  which  the  Rus- 
sians had  retired,  was  carried.    The  Japanese 


>ii^ 


1: 


i= 


%■ 


154 


RUSSIANS   STORY 


then  attacked  Nan-shan  and  Nan-kuan-ling, 
which  the  Russians  had  converted  into  a 
permanent  position,  outflanked  their  trenches 
and  compelled  them  to  retire  in  the  direction 
of  Port  Arthur.  This  retirement  uncovered 
Dalny,  which  was  occupied  by  the  Japanese 
on  the  thirtieth  of  May  and  converted  into  a 
naval  base.  The  Japanese  General,  Oku, 
leaving  General  Nogi  to  advance  on  Port 
Arthur,  defeated  the  Russians  under  General 
Stockenberg  at  the  Battle  of  Telissu ;  a 
further  success  was  achieved  by  General 
Kuroki,  who  captured  the  Mo-tien-Ung  and 
To-Ung  Passes,  commanding  the  road  to  Liao- 
yang  and  also  to  Mukden,  which  the  Russian 
General,  Kellev,  unsuccessfully  attempted  to 
recapture  with  thirty  thousand  men,  but  was 
himself  killed  in  the  battle. 

The  Russian  fleet  in  Port  Arthur,  whose 
safety  was  endangered  by  the  advances  of 
General  Nogi,  put  to  sea,  and  encountered  the 
Japanese  fleet  under  Admiral  Togo,  and  was 
beaten,  although  numerically  stronger,  and 
returned  to  Port  Arthur.  About  the  same 
time  the  Vladivostok  squadron,  on  its  way 
to  meet  the  Port  Arthur  fleet,  was  worsted  by 
Admiral  Kanimura's  fleet  in  the  Tsushima 
Straits.  General  Nogi's  army  took  up  a  line 
of  positions  extending  from  Louisa  Bay  on  the 


# 


JAPANESE    DEFEAT   RUSSIANS    155 

west  to  a  Une  of  heights  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Taho  River  on  the  east.  A  summons  to 
surrender  sent  to  General  Stoessel  not  being 
complied  with,  the  inner  ring  of  Port  Arthur 
fortifications  were  assaulted,  the  assault  last- 
ing six  days  and  costing  the  Japanese  nearly 
sixteen  thousand  men. 

Heavy  fighting  was  meanwhile  taking  place 
between  the  three  Japanese  armies  in  the 
north  and  the  Russians.  Kuroki's  forces 
advancing  to  threaten  Kuropatkin's  com- 
munications left  a  considerable  gap  between 
his  troops  and  the  main  army,  which  allowed 
Kuropatkin,  who  hoped  to  be  supported  by 
Orloffe,  who  held  a  stronger  force  near 
Mukden,  to  envelop  and  destroy  Kuroki's 
right.  Kuroki,  however,  though  he  failed  to 
cut  Kuropatkin's  communications,  occupied 
Liao-yang,  about  220,000  men  being  engaged 
on  either  side.  Some  disappointment  was 
felt  at  Kuroki  having  failed  to  convert  this 
Liao-yang  victory  into  a  Sedan,  but  it  is 
really  surprising  that  he  succeeded  at  all, 
and  not  that  the  Russians  retired  in  good  order 
to  Mukden. 

Meanwhile,  desperate  fighting  continued 
round  Port  Arthur.  A  prolonged  attack  was 
deUvered  on  positions  east  and  west  of  the 
railroad  and  captures  were  made  which  en- 


156 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


abled  the  Japanese  to  rain  shot  and  shell  over 
the  town  and  harbour.  Their  army  extended 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Hun  River, 
about  twenty  miles  east  of  Mukden  beyond 
the  Sha  River,  over  a  front  of  sixty  miles. 
Ten  days'  fighting  cost  the  Russians  sixty 
thousand  men.  Kuropatkin  had  come  to  the 
relief  of  the  town  with  the  Manchurian  army, 
but  his  only  capture  was  that  of  Lonely  Tree 
Hill,  while  the  Japanese,  by  their  capture  of 
Metre  Hill,  could  direct  their  heavy  guns 
upon  the  Russian  fleet,  and  on  the  thirty-first 
of  December  the  fortress  surrendered.  But 
the  war  did  not  end  then.  The  Russians 
had  three  hundred  thousand  men  in  the  field, 
and  in  three  weeks*  fighting,  up  to  the  twelfth 
of  March  it  was  estimated  they  lost  in 
casualties  nearly  140,000  men— 27,700  being 

killed. 

Russia,  in  the  hope  to  avert  the  fall  of 
Port  Arthur,  despatched  her  Baltic  fleet  to 
the  seat  of  war  in  October.  Its  first  achieve- 
ment was  to  fire  upon  some  EngHsh  fishing 
boats  in  the  North  Sea,  with  fatal  results, 
which  led  to  complications  with  England. 
The  matter  was  referred  to  an  International 
Court  of  Inquiry,  but  which  did  not  settle 
several  questions  at  issue  between  the  two 
nations  in  connection  with   the   seizure   of 


FALL   OF  PORT   ARTHUR      157 

British  ships  and  the  Russian  declaration  as 
to  what  was  contraband. 

When  this  fleet  arrived  at  Madagascar  they 
were  greeted  with  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Port 
Arthur  and  the  partial  annihilation  of  the 
Russian  army  at  Mukden.  But  they  pro- 
ceeded to  Korea,  where  they  met  Admiral 
Togo  off  Tsushima.  An  engagement  followed 
(on  May  27)  in  which  the  Russian  fleet  was 
totally  defeated. 

Port  Arthur  had  surrendered  on  the  first 
of  January,  1905,  and  Saghalien  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  July. 

Peace  proposals  were  first  made  by  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt,  and  were  accepted  by  both 
parties  ;  but  the  treaty  of  peace  was  not 
signed  till  October.  By  this  Treaty  (of  Ports- 
mouth, U.S.)  Russia  recognized  Japan's 
paramount  interests  in  Korea,  transferred 
Port  Arthur  and  the  railway  south  of  Chang- 
chun, the  southern  half  of  Saghalien,  and 
certain  fishing  rights  to  Japan.  Manchuria 
was  to  be  evacuated  and  China  to  have 
restored  to  her  her  sovereign  rights  over 
those  parts  occupied  by  her  troops.  These 
extremely  moderate  terms,  after  almost  un- 
equalled victories,  occasioned  bitter  dis- 
satisfaction in  Japan,  which  vented  itself  in 
riots. 


158 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Japan's  claim  for  a  pecuniary  indemnity 
was  abandoned  by  her  owing  to  the  exertions 
of  President  Roosevelt  in  the  interests  of 
peace.  The  Japanese  successes  at  sea  only 
left  Russia  with  ten  out  of  eighty-three 
vessels,  and  her  expenditure  was  declared  to 
be  ^^209,000,000. 

Russia's  loss  of  the  war  was  greatly  due  to 
her  being  hampered  by  troubles  at  home, 
which  greatly  increased  after  its  conclusion. 

The  years  1905,  1906,  and  1907  were 
marked  by  political  murders  and  incendiar- 
isms, the  first  victim  (in  1907)  being  the 
Prefect  of  St.  Petersburg.  The  fall  of  Port 
Arthur  had  increased  the  public  discontent ; 
also  the  demand  for  a  representative  assembly. 
Strikes  and  riots  occurred,  and  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1905  there  was  a  terrible  massacre  of 
people  by  the  troops  at  the  gates  of  the 
Winter  Palace,  the  strikers  endeavouring  to 
reach  the  square  in  front  of  the  palace,  where 
a  priest  (Father  Gapon)  had  urged  the  Czar 
to  meet  his  people  and  receive  a  petition  from 
them,  but  the  Czar  remained  at  Tsarkoe-Selo, 
where  he  was  then  residing.  Other  riots 
occurred  in  various  parts  of  the  Empire,  and 
in  March,  1905,  Poland  was  placed  in  a  state 
of  siege.  On  August  19th  of  that  year,  an 
Imperial  manifesto  was  issued,  announcing 


DISTURBANCES  IN  RUSSIA     159 

that  while  preserving  the  fundamental  law 
regarding  autocratic  power,  the  Czar  had 
decided  to  summon  elected  representatives 
from  the  whole  of  Russia  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  elaboration  of  the  laws,  and  this 
body  should  be  called  Gosondarstvennaia 
Duma  (State  Council),  and  it  should  assemble 
in  January,  1906  ;  also  that  the  Minister  for 
the  Interior  should  submit  regulations  for  the 
election  of  this  Duma  in  fifty  governments 
and  the  military  province  of  the  Don,  the 
total  number  of  members  to  be  412. 

Insurrections,  however,  continued ;  one  rail- 
way strike  in  October,  1905,  assumed  colossal 
proportions,  isolating  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow, 
and  Warsaw,  the  object  being  to  compel  the 
Government  to  summon  an  assembly  elected 
by  universal  suffrage,  and  although  a  consti- 
tution  was   signed   at    Peterhof  concerning 
civil  freedom,  an  extended  suffrage  and  legis- 
lative Duma,  which  at  first  gave  satisfaction, 
still  colhsions  occurred  between  the  military 
and  the  people,  and  terrible  atrocities  on  Jews 
were  reported  from  Odessa  and  other  towns. 
Also  general  risings  continued  through  the 
Empire,  which  remained  in  a  very  agitated 
state. 

In  March,  1906,  an  Imperial  manifesto  laid 
down   regulations   for   the    Duma   and    the 


,6o  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

Council  of  the  Empire,  which  were  to  be 

convoked  and  prorogued  annually  by  Impenal 

XJksLSC . 

The  first  Duma  was  opened  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  April  of  that  year.  But  its  insti- 
tution  did  not  bring  about  internal  quiet 
Strikes  and  insurgent  action  w^^^^^*  ^f^Jy 
occurrence,  and  it  became  evident  that  so 
long  as  a  Ministry  was  not  chosen  from  the 
Duma  there  could  be  no  co-operation  between 
that  body  and  the  Government  and  that  its 
labours  must  be  fruitless. 

The  second  Duma  met  in  March,  1907,  its 
temper  being  more  democratic  than  the  hrst, 
and  the  third  Duma  assembled  on  the  four- 
teenth  of  November,  1908,  the  first  year  of 
comparative  quiet  after  the  war  with  Japan 
This  Duma,  purged  of  its  irreconcilable 
elements,  and  the  temper  of  the  nation  being 
disillusioned  and  weary  of  anarchy,  was 
allowed  to  do  considerable  beneficial  work. 

Count  Ignatieff,  author  of  the  Treaty  of 
San  Stefano  and  a  famous  diplomatist,  died 

on  the  sixth  of  July. 

The  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea  agreements 
were  concluded,  and  steps  were  taken  for  a 
meeting  of  the  Powers  which  had  signed  the 
Treaty  of  Berlin,  to  consider  the  arrangements 
necessary  in  consequence  of  the  declaration 


ACCOUNT   OF   SERVIA 


161 


of  Bulgarian  independence  and  the  annexa- 
tion by  Austria  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina. 
The  agitation  in  Servia  caused  by  the  annexa- 
tion of  these  places  led  to  the  brink  of  war 
between  the  countries  in  question.  But, 
being  unsupported  by  Russia,  Servia  gave 
way,  and  a  war  of  tariffs  merely  followed, 
which  closed  the  Austrian  frontier  and  left 
Austria  only  a  commercial  outlet  at  Salonika, 
which  Turkey  dominated. 

Servia,  which  was  a  province  of  Turkey, 
had  revolted  in  1804,  under  Czerni  George, 
who  governed  it  as  an  independent  nation. 
It  was  allied  to  Russia  till  1812,  when  Russia, 
pressed  by  Napoleon,  concluded  peace  with 
Turkey  at  Bucharest,  forgetting  Servian 
interests  entirely.  Turkey  then  reconquered 
it,  but  by  a  second  insurrection  in  18 15  it 
regained  its  autonomy  under  the  suzerainty 
of  the  Sultan,  which  continued  till  1879. 

The  third  Duma  passed  a  measure  in  1910 
which  was  of  great  benefit  to  the  mass  of  the 
Russian  peasantry,  and  in  the  same  year 
appeared  manifestations  of  nationalism  by 
the  Government  and  the  Duma ;  but  a 
measure  calculated  to  give  the  Russian 
peasant  element  in  the  Baltic  and  Don 
Cossack  provinces  a  preponderance  of  repre- 
sentation over  the  Polish  land  proprietors. 


i     i 


M 


l62 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


who  had  only  elected  Poles  to  sit  in  the  State 
Councils  at  St.  Petersburg,  brought  on  a 
ministerial  crisis. 

The  Duma  did  all  they  could  to  extend 
national  education,  and  their  financial  work 
was  most  commendable.  They  also  devoted 
considerable  attention  to  the  progress  of 
national  defence,  and  adopted  General  Baden- 
Powell's  system  of  boy  scouts,  who  were  also 
called  play  soldiers  and  trained. 

The  third  Duma  completed  its  five  years  in 
1912,  during  which  time  2,340  of  the  2,572 
Bills  which  it  laid  before  Government  were 
passed,  and  the  elections  for  the  fourth  Duma 
resulted  in  a  defeat  for  the  centre  party,  who 
were  composed  of  NationaUsts  and  Octobrists, 
namely,  the  supporters  of  the  Imperial 
Government  manifesto  of  October  20,  1905, 
under  which  the  first  Duma  was  elected,  the 
Right  objecting  to  that  manifesto  because  it 
gave  the  Duma  too  much  power,  and  the  Left 
because  it  gave  them  too  little. 

Russian  relations  with  England  continued 
most  cordial ;  the  Russian  Foreign  Minister 
came  to  confer  with  the  British  Government 
about  the  warUke  look  in  the  Balkans  and 
the  conditions  of  peace  with  Persia,  with  the 
result  that  there  was  complete  harmony  both 
as  to  the  maintenance  of  the  triple  entente 


CONVENTIONS  WITH  CHINA     163 

and  as  to  partitioning  Persia,  which  neither 
side  desired.    Other  important  events  of  the 
year  were  conventions  with  China  and  Japan, 
the  latter  settling  the  last  of  the  questions  at 
issue  since  the  war,  namely,  the  condemna- 
tion of  two  Russian  hospital  ships,  of  which 
the    Mikado    now    ordered    the    surrender. 
There  had  been  trouble  with  China  about  the 
revision  of  the  treaty  of  1881  and,  towards 
the  end  of  the  year  1912,  about  the  inde- 
pendence of  Northern  Mongolia,  Russia  hav- 
ing recognized  its  autonomy  without  impugn- 
ing the  sovereignty  of  the  Chinese— a  recogni- 
tion which  caused  irritation  and  created  ill- 
feehng  on  the  part  of  the  latter  country. 

In  the  Morocco  crisis  of  1911,  the  attitude 
of  England  in  support  of  France  was  assisted 
by  Russia,  thus  making  it  understood  that 
the  alliance  between  France  and  Russia 
continued  in  full  force. 

The  Premier,  Stolypin— the  ablest  head  of 
the  Russian  Government  since  Count  Witte 
and  the  terror  of  the  Finns  and  the  SociaUst 
revolutionists— was  shot  in  September  in  the 
same  year,  at  a  gala  performance  at  Kiev, 
an  incident  which  was  deplored  all  over 
Russia. 

In  that  year  (1911)  difficulties  arose  between 
Russia  and  the  United  States,  owing  to  the 


i64  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

Russian  refusal  to  abolish  disabilities  in  the 
case  of  foreign  Jews,  while  Aiiglo-Russian 
relations  improved  and  remained  on  a  most 
satisfactory  footing. 

Russian  finances  were  m  a  favourable 
condition  in  1912.  but  her  grain  export  trade 
suffered  owing  to  the  closing  of  the  Darden- 
elles,  in  consequence  of  the  Turko-Italian  and 

Balkan  wars.  . 

Russia,  the  same  as  other  Powers   mam- 
tained  an  attitude  of  neutrality  in  the  war 
between  Italy  and  Turkey,  yet  pubhc  opimon 
leaned  to  the  side  of  Italy.    The  Goverrunent 
had  made  protests  to  Turkey  agamst  her 
threatened  invasion  of  Montenegro   m  con- 
sequence of  the  sympathy  she  showed  to 
Italy   and   the    Albanians.     Further    great 
cordiality  was  shown  to  King  Peter  of  Serbia 
when  he  visited  St.  Petersburg  m  September, 
iqii,  for  the  wedding  of  his  daughter  Helena, 
and  a  friendly  agreement  was  entered  mto 
with  Germany  in  relation  to  railway  conces- 
sions in  Persia,  and  it  was  arranged  that 
Teheran  should  be  linked  with  the  Bagdad 
route  and  Russia  should  have  permanent 
control  of  it.    Germany  promised  not  to  mter- 
fere  with  Russia's  diplomacy  m  Persia   and 
Russia  gave  Germany  permission  to  accelerate 
the  coiStruction  of  the  Bagdad  Railway  and 


FIRST  BALKAN  WAR        165 

get  a  concession  from  Persia  for  a  railway 
from  Khanikan,  the  last  station  on  the  German 
Une  of  the  Turko-Persian  frontier  to  Teheran, 
thus  facilitating  the  competition  of  German 
goods  with  those  of  Russia  in  the  markets  of 
North  Persia. 

This  harmony  was  officially  described  as 
linking  the  two  nations  together  in  a  firm  and 
lasting  friendship,  a  description  which  has 
been  totally  nuUified  by  the  outbreak  of  the 
present  war  and  which  even  then  was  much 
criticized  by  the  Russian  press  as  giving 
Germany  every  advantage  to  the  detriment 
of  Russia,  which  gained  nothing  of  any 
importance. 

THE   BALKAN   WARS 

The  first  Balkan  War  broke  out  in  1912. 

After  a  long  period  of  tension,  owing  to  the 
Macedonian  question  and  an  abortive  attempt 
at  arrangement  by  the  Powers,  Montenegro 
declared  war  upon  Turkey  on  the  eighth  of 
October,  1912,  and  Greece,  Bulgaria,  and 
Serbia  joined  in.  They  were  remarkably 
successful,  and  it  became  clear  that  the  map 
of  Eastern  Europe  must  be  altered.  Monte- 
negro, though  she  worsted  the  Turks  in  every 
encounter,  did  not  take  Scutari,  the  real 
object  of  her  campaign.   The  Greeks  captured 


11 


1 66 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


] 


Salonica  and  the  Bulgarians  occupied  Mustifa 
Pacha  and  advanced  to  the  first  line  of  the 
defences  of  Adrianople,  to  which  place  they 
laid  siege,  having  won  the  battles  of  Kirk 
Kilisse  and  Salu  Burgas. 

The  Powers  then  intervened,  and  in  Dec- 
ember peace  delegates  met  in  London.  But 
Turkey  refused  to  give  up  Adrianople  or  to 
allow  the  Powers  to  arrange  about  the  iEgean 
Islands,  and  so  the  conference  came  to  an  end 
on  the  first  of  February,  1913. 

Adrianople  was  attacked  by  the  Bulgarians, 
while  Montenegro  pursued  the  siege  of 
Scutari,  and  in  the  end  both  capitulated. 

The  chief  obstacle  to  the  conclusion  of  peace 
was  the  demand  of  the  Balkan  League  for  the 
cession  of  Adrianople  ;  also  Roumania  re- 
quired compensation  for  remaining  neutral 
throughout  the  war.  After  some  further 
fighting  a  second  peace  conference  was  held 
in  London  on  the  twentieth  of  May,  Roumania 
having  agreed  (on  May  7)  about  SiUstria,  but 
claiming  a  rectification  of  the  Dobrudja 
frontier,  Dobrudja  having  been  given  to  her 
by  Russia  under  the  Treaty  of  BerUn,  Russia 
taking  Bessarabia  in  exchange. 

Bulgaria  and  Serbia  agreed  to  submit  to 
the  arbitration  of  Russia,  but  affairs  had  gone 
too  far  to  make  a  pacific  solution  possible. 


SECOND  BALKAN   WAR       167 

and  the  allies,  flushed  with  victory,  would  not 
abandon  any  of  their  conquests.  So  the 
second  Balkan  War  commenced  on  the 
thirtieth  of  June  by  the  Bulgarians  attacking 
the  Serbian  and  Greek  positions.  Roumania, 
after  a  warning  to  Bulgaria,  also  joined,  and 
her  army  entered  SiUstria.  Turkey  again 
became  a  beUigerent,  and  the  Turkish  army 
recaptured  Adrianople,  thus  completing  a 
list  of  Bulgarian  disasters,  Bulgaria  having 
been  worsted  throughout.  An  armistice  was 
at  length  signed  at  Bucharest  on  July  31, 
between  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Montenegro,  Rou- 
mania and  Serbia,  followed  by  a  treaty  of 
peace  on  August  loth,  which  rectified  the 
Serbo  -  Bulgarian,  Roumano  -  Bulgarian  and 
Graeco  -  Bulgarian  frontiers.  This  second 
Balkan  War  was  really  fought  for  the  Ubera- 
tion  of  Christians  from  Turkey  and  to  enlarge 
the  territories  of  the  Christian  Balkan  States. 
Turkey  retained  Adrianople,  Dunotika  and 
Kirk  Kilisse  by  agreement  signed  on  the 
eighteenth  of  September  between  Bulgaria 
and  Turkey,  ratified  on  the  twenty-ninth  of 
September.  Therefore,  by  the  two  Balkan 
wars  Bulgaria  lost  Macedonia,  which  was 
divided  between  Turkey  and  Greece,  and  for 
which  the  war  was  professedly  fought.  By 
the  Treaty  of  London,  signed  on  the  thirtieth 


1 68 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


of  May  (mentioned  above),  the  Turkish 
frontier  of  Thrace  started  from  a  point  in  the 
Black  Sea  east  of  Midiah,  following  the  course 
of  the  River  Ergene  as  far  as  Maradli  and 
terminating  at  Cape  Erige,  the  rest  of 
European  Turkey  being  ceded  to  the  aUies 
and  Crete  to  Greece. 


THE   GREAT  WAR 

The  nations  of  Europe  were  at  perfect 
peace  with  one  another,  although  far-seeing 
persons  knew  that  compHcations  might  arise 
at  any  moment.  The  aggressive  attitude  of 
Germany,  evidencing  itself  now  and  then,  as 
in  the  Morocco  crisis  of  1906,  also  at  the  time 
of  the  Algeciras  conference,  and  later,  when 
the  second  Morocco  question,  the  Agadir 
affair,  arose,  had  shown  Europe  on  how 
precarious  a  basis  the  general  tranquillity 
hung.  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy  were 
bound  by  a  defensive  alliance,  opposed  to 
which  was  what  is  called  the  Triple  entente — 
Russia  and  France  being  bound  together  by 
treaty  and  England  having  a  mutual  under- 
standing with  them,  though  preserving  free- 
dom of  action.  Thus  when  M.  Javolsky, 
Russian  Minister,  inquired  England's  attitude 
in  1908,  the  Balkan  crisis  originating  in  the 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  GREAT  WAR    169 

annexation  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Sir 
Edward  Grey  told  him  that  nothing  more 
than  diplomatic  support  could  be  expected 
from  Great  Britain. 

Servian  aspirations  were  jealously  watched 
by  Austria  but  countenanced  by  Russia.  It 
seems  clear  that  war  would  not  have  broken 
out  as  it  did  if  Russia  had  not  supported 
Servia.  For  Russia  had  never  been  at  variance 
with  Germany  since  the  partition  of  Poland, 
though  it  was  generally  anticipated  that 
some  day  there  would  be  a  conflict  with 
Austria  owing  to  the  attitudes  of  the  two 
Empires  in  relation  to  the  Balkans. 

The  manner  in  which  Germany  intended 
to  act,  in  defiance  of  international  law  and  of 
all  treaty  obligations,  was  heralded  by  the 
proposal  of  the  German  Chancellor  to  the 
British  Ambassador  immediately  after  a 
council  held  at  Potsdam  on  the  eve  of  the 
ultimatum  to  Russia  (July  29),  asking  Great 
Britain  to  stand  neutral  while  France  was 
stripped  of  her  Colonies  and  Belgian  neutrality 
disregarded,  on  the  grounds  of  Germany's 
necessity.  Russia  was  not  ready  for  war,  and 
did  not  desire  war ;  she  was  busy  with  her 
internal  affairs  and  not  anxious  to  incur  the 
vast  outlay  which  war  must  entail :  besides, 
there  was  no  bone  of  contention  between 


I/O 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Germany  and  herself,  although  she  must  have 
been  aware  that  Germany  looked  with  a 
jealous  eye  on  her  alUance  with  France. 

Popular  ignorance  in  England  deemed 
Russia's  soldiers  to  be  countless,  and  in  the 
early  stages  of  the  war  talked  about  the 
Russian  steam  roller  which  was  to  sweep 
everything  before  it,  of  the  clouds  of  Cossacks 
and  the  Russian  troops  passing  through 
England  on  their  way  to  the  Western  front, 
while  the  real  truth  was  that  she  was  totally 
unprepared  for  war ;  her  vast  territorial 
extent  delayed  mobilization  and  increased 
difficulties  of  transport.  Her  train  communi- 
cation was  deficient,  while  the  German 
Eastern  frontier  was  gridironed  with  a  net- 
work of  strategic  railways.  There  were 
shortages  of  equipment  of  every  kind,  from 
clothing  to  great  guns.  The  roads  were  bad — 
she  needed  supplies — she  needed  money. 
She  was  vulnerable  in  Poland,  being  hemmed 
in  on  three  sides.  But  her  mobilization  was 
admirably  conducted  and  the  war  brought  a 
soUdarity  and  union  amongst  the  Russian 
people  which  they  had  never  experienced 
before.  Also  a  wise  step  of  the  Czar  was  the 
suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic,  which  was 
submitted  to  without  a  murmur. 

The  Russian  navy  had  been  almost  annihil- 


THE    RUSSIAN   NAVY  171 

ated  in  the  war  with  Japan.  In  the  opening 
of  that  campaign  it  was  crippled  by  the  in- 
capacity of  its  admirals;  it  lost  its  best 
admiral  at  the  sinking  of  the  Petropavlovsk, 
and  at  the  last  battle,  that  of  Tsushima,  a 
fleet  weatied  by  a  long  unlucky  voyage  had  to 
contend  with  another,  the  Japanese,  navy 
hardened  by  war  and  flushed  with  victory. 

The  renaissance  of  the  navy  may  be  said 
to  have  commenced  in  1912,  in  which  year 
the  Duma  passed  a  bill  which  involved  a  con- 
siderable expenditure  on  ship-building  (fifty 
milhons)  and  on  the  construction  of  naval 
ports  ;  but  still,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
War  of  1914  it  laboured  under  considerable 
disadvantages  both  in  number  of  ships  and 
their  equipment  as  compared  with  that  of 
Germany. 

The  determination  of  Russia  to  protect 
Serbia  gave  Germany  an  excuse  for  plunging 
the  world  into  the  present  terrible  conflict, 
and  the  order  of  events  may  be  detailed  thus  : 

The  Serb  Nationalist  movement  which 
existed  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  had 
brought  on  the  war  between  Russia  and 
Turkey  in  1877,  and  continued  when  Austria 
took  over  the  administration  of  the  provinces, 
under  the  Treaty  of  BerHn,  in  1878.  In  1908 
Austria  proclaimed  their  annexation,  and  the 


,72  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

Serbian  attitude,  encouraged  by  Russia, 
again  nearly  produced  war ;  Serbian  suc- 
cesses in  the  Balkan  Wars  fomented  her 
national  aspirations,  while  the  assassination 
of  the  Austrian  Archduke  Ferdinand,  on  the 
twenty-third  of  June,  1914.  attributed  to 
Serbian  machinations,  roused  intense  anger 
in  Austria,  which  country  had  the  then 
sympathy  of  Europe.  The  Serbian  Govern- 
ment was  willing  to  investigate  the  matter, 
and  a  court  martial  had  been  set  up  at  bara- 

^Tn  the  part  of  Russia,  her  Foreign  Minister 
had  just  stated  in  the  Duma  the  policy  of 
"the  Balkans  for  the  Balkans,"  and  it  was 
known  that  Russia  would  not  be  indifferent 
to  any  humiliation  of  Serbia. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  July  Austna  de- 
livered an  ultimatum  at  Belgrade  requinng 
an  answer  in  forty-eight  hours.  She  made 
ten  demands,  each  of  which  would  ehminate 
from  Serbian  life  all  that  would  be  hostile  to 
her  The  Russian  Foreign  Mimster  in 
St.  Petersburg  then  summoned  the  French 
and  English  Ambassadors  to  him,  told  theni 
that  Austria's  step  meant  imminent  war,  and 
asked  for  their  support ;  which  France  as 
she  was  bound  to  do,  gave.  Great  Britain 
pressed  Austria    for    an   extension   of    the 


ULTIMATUM   TO   SERVIA      173 

time   limit,  and   made   three  attempts  for 

peace. 

Austria  refused  to  extend  the  limit,  and 
was  obdurate  to  any  concession  of  her  terms. 
The  Serbian  reply  agreed  to  all  the  demands 
save  one,  namely, the  participation  of  Austnan 
officers  in  Serbian  judicial  proceedings,  thus 
showing  her  desire  for  a  settlement.    Russia 
openly  declared  that  she  would  intervene  if 
Serbia  was  crushed,  to  which  Austria  repUed 
that  attack  would  be  merely  punitive  and 
that  she  would  not  take  any  territory  from 
Serbia.     She  declared  war  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  and  Russia  then  ordered  a  partial 

mobilization. 

It  was  now  clear  that  a  European  War  was 
imminent,  but  Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  English 
Foreign  Minister,  still  laboured  for  a  settle- 
ment, although  England  was  not,  as  yet, 
directly  involved.  He  proposed  a  Congress 
of  the  Powers  in  London,  but  Germany 
refused,  the  German  Chancellor  telling  the 
British' Ambassador  that  he  was  trying  to 
mediate  at  Vienna  and  St.  Petersburg. 

Although  peace  negotiations  continued  for 
the  next  few  days  the  situation  became  mani- 
festly  more   serious  than  ever.     Germany 
pressed  Great  Britain  for  a  pledge  to  remain 
/  neutral  in  the  event  of  a  war  between  her  and 


174 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


France  and  Russia,  which  Sir  Edward  Grey 
at  once  refused  to  give.    But  for  a  few  hours 
there  seemed  to  be  a  hope  of  peace.    Russia 
was  able  to  inform  the  British  Government 
that  Austria  was  wiUing  to  discuss  the  whole 
question  of  her  ultimatum  to  Serbia,  and 
asked  the  British  Government  to  assume  the 
direction  of  these  discussions.     But  on  the 
thirty-first  of  July  Germany  suddenly  des- 
patched an  ultimatum  to  Russia  demanding 
that  she  should  demobolize  in  twelve  hours, 
and  on  her  refusal  a  declaration  of  war  was 
presented.    France  being  bound  to  Russia  by 
treaty  was  also  questioned  as  to  her  attitude 
and  replied  by  mobilization.    Germany  then 
invaded  the  small  neutral  State  of  Luxem- 
bourg, whose  neutrahty  had  been  guaranteed 
by  all  the  Powers  at  the  Treaty  of  London, 
in  1867,  and  war  with  France  became  also  an 
accomphshed  fact.    The  Czar,  on  the  declara- 
tion of  war  against  him,  telegraphed  to  the 
King    of    England    as    follows :     ''In    this 
solemn  hour  I  wish  to  assure  you  once  more 
that  I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  avert 
war."    There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  was 
so.     Although  the  Russian  people  had  the 
interests  of  the  Serbian  race  so  much  at  heart, 
and   were   resolved  to   prevent  their   being 
wiped  out  of  existence,  as  there  can  be  but 


THE  GREAT  WAR  BREAKS  OUT  175 

little  doubt  that  that  was  Austria's  intention, 
in  spite  of  her  contrary  assurances,  yet  the 
attitude  of  the  Russian  Government  was 
most  conciliatory  throughout,  and  the  ulti- 
matum of  Germany,  at  a  time  when  the 
prospects  of  peace  looked  brighter,  was  so 
unnecessary  and  showed  that  she  was  bent  on 
war. 

England  still  remained  neutral,  although 
she  had  given  a  conditional  promise  of  naval 
assistance  to  France  and  had  sent  three 
warnings  to  Germany  as  to  the  effect  that  a 
violation  of  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  would 
produce  upon  the  British  people,  and  she 
kept  her  fleet,  of  which  there  had  been  a 
great  review  but  a  fortnight  previously, 
together.  But  a  violation  of  the  Belgian 
territory  by  the  German  armies  produced  an 
appeal  from  the  King  of  the  Belgians  to  King 
George,  followed  by  an  ultimatum  from 
England  to  Germany,  which  was  disregarded, 
and  at  midnight,  on  the  fourth  of  August, 
England  also  declared  war. 


The  Russian  troops  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  were  composed  of  three  different  armies, 
one  of  which  invaded  East  Prussia,  the 
second  aimed  at  the  Carpathians,  and  the 
third  made  Galicia  its  objective. 


176 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


At  first  success  attended  the  Russian  arms. 
On  the  nineteenth  of   August  they  won  a 
battle  at  Stalluponen,  on  the  road  to  Tilsit, 
and  occupied  Soldanan,  while  the  Germans 
were  driven  to  Intersburg,  which  the  Russians 
also  captured.   The  Germans  failed  in  attempt 
ing  to  turn  the  Russian  left,  and  the  end  of 
the  month  saw  the  latter  in  possession  of  a 
considerable   portion   of   East    Prussia    but 
some  of  the  country  they  had  captured  had 
to  be  abandoned,  owing  to  the  advances  of 
General    Hindenburg.      On    the    tenth    of 
September  the  Russians  sustained  a  severe 
check  at  Tannenburg,  Hindenburg  putting 
into  force  a  device  somewhat  similar  to  that 
practised  by  Hannibal  at  the  ancient  battle 
of    Thrasymene,    namely,    by    enticing    the 
Russians  on  to  the  swampy  regions  of  the 
Masurian  Lakes  and  then  suddenly  springing 
on  their  flank,  entaiUng  on  them  a  loss  of 
some  fifty  thousand  men.     This  led  to  the 
abandonment  of  an  offensive  in  East  Prussia. 
Tilsit    however,  on  the  road  to  Komgsberg, 
was  occupied  by  them,  but  they  failed  to 

reach  the  Niemen. 

On  the  first  of  September  the  name  of  the 
Capital  was  changed  from  St.  Petersburg  to 
Petrograd,  and  on  the  seventh  the  aUies 
agreed  to  make  no  separate  peace. 


PROGRESS   OF   THE  WAR     177 

The  drink  prohibition  in  Russia  dates  from 
the  twenty-ninth  of  October. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  October,  without 
any  warning,  the  Turks  attacked  certain 
Russian  forts  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  after  some 
prolonged  fighting,  finishing  with  a  three  days' 
battle,  in  which  a  whole  Turkish  Army  Corps 
surrendered,  they  were  driven  back. 

In  the  South  the  Austrians  invaded  Poland, 
striking  for  the  Kieff  and  Moscow  Railway, 
and  were  covered  by  an  advance  eastward 
from  Lemberg  ;  but  the  Russians,  under  the 
command  of  General  Russky,  repulsed  them, 
and  took  Lemberg  on  September  3,  which 
remained  in  Russian  possession  till  the  end  of 
the  year.  The  Russian  General  Brusiloff, 
advancing  from  the  north-east,  drove  back 
the  Austrians,  captured  Jaroslaw  and  invested 
Przemysl  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  September, 
and  the  Russians  held  nearly  the  whole  of 
Galicia.  They  invarably  beat  the  Austrians 
in  battle,  and  moved  towards  Cracow,  while 
detachments  entered  the  Carpathians  and 
advanced  towards  the  plains  of  Hungary. 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  Russian  defeat 
at  Tannenberg  was  the  transfer  of  four  or  five 
German  Army  Corps  to  the  Polish  frontier, 
and  on  October  14  the  siege  of  Przemysl  was 
raised,  and  Lodz  and  all  Poland,  west  of  the 

N 


178 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Vistula,  were  in  the  possession  of  the  Austrians. 
The  Austro-Germans  resumed  the  offensive 
in  October,  hoping  to  break  the  Russian 
centre  between  Pilna  and  Radem.  Supported 
by  an  advance  from  Mlava  towards  the  River 
Narow,  they  attacked  Warsaw,  but  were 
driven  back  by  a  Russian  counter-attack. 
On  the  twenty-seventh  of  October  the  Rus- 
sians were  at  Lodz.  By  November  the  third 
the  Russians  occupied  Kielce  and  Sandonierz 
on  the  Vistula,  to  the  south  of  Warsaw,  and 
on  the  eighth  resumed  the  invasion  of  East 
Prussia,  penetrating  the  German  Province  of 

Posen. 

In  Galicia,  on  November  13,  they  occupied 
Thurnow  and  resumed  the  siege  of  Przemysl 
(which  fell  on  the  twenty-second  of  March, 
1915),  and  about  three  weeks  later  they  in- 
vested Cracow  ;  but  neither  place  was  taken, 
and  by  the  twelfth  of  December  their  advance 
was  arrested  by  heavy  rains,  but  they  still 
held  a  great  part  of  Galicia. 

On  November  18  the  Germans  broke  the 
Russian  Hues  at  Knovno,  and  advanced 
towards  Warsaw,  approaching  to  within  forty 
miles  of  that  capital.  On  December  8  they  re- 
captured Lodz,  but  were  unable  to  proceed 
further.  On  December  9  the  Russian  front 
retired  beyond  Lodz,  which  the  Germans  had 


RUSSIA  HOLDS  HER  OWN     179 

recaptured  after  a  great  battle,  taking  sixty 
thousand  prisoners  and  one  hundred  guns, 
for  which  achievement  Hindenburg  was 
created  a  field-marshal. 

The  German  offensive  towards  Lovicz 
continued,  and  by  the  twenty-third  they 
were  established  north  of  Sochaczew,  some 
thirty  miles  from  Warsaw,  Russian  attacks 
in  great  force  preventing  them  from  getting 
nearer.  Meawa,  a  town  not  far  from  the 
Prussian  frontier  was  retaken  by  them  on  the 
twentieth  of  December,  from  whence  their 
line  ran  to  Ilow-Lowicz.  After  three  days' 
fighting  the  enemy  were  repulsed  there,  and 
also  on  the  Pilica  and  the  lower  reaches  of 
the  Nida. 

The  second  Austrian  advance  was  pro- 
jected by  Hindenburg,  who  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  chief  command  in  Poland. 
Offensive  operations  were  again  undertaken, 
and  the  result  was  that  the  advance  of  the 
Russian  armies  was  arrested  and  they 
occupied  at  the  close  of  the  year  1914  a  Une 
running  north  and  south  from  the  Lower 
Bzura  along  the  Rawa  across  the  PiUca  to 
the  line  of  the  Mida  and  of  the  Dunajety. 

The  Germans  dug  themselves  in  between 
the  Bzura  and  the  Rawa  and  firmly  en- 
trenched themselves  in  that  position. 


,8o  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

The  leading  dates  may  be  summarized  as 
follows  : 

i8th  August,  1914.— Russians  won  Stall- 

uponen. 

3rd  September,  1914.— Lemberg  taken. 

loth  September,  1914.— Russian  defeat  at 
Tannenburg. 

28th    September,    1914.— First    Siege    of 

Przemysl. 

I4tli  October,  1914.— Siege  abandoned. 
Lodz  and  aU  West  Poland  in  Austrian 
possession. 

8th  November,  1914.— Russians  resumed 
invasion  of  East  Prussia. 

I2th  November,   1914.— Second  Siege   of 

Przemysl. 

i8th    November,    1914.— Germans    broke 

Russian  Unes  at  Knovno. 
8th  December,  1914.— Germans  recaptured 

Lodz. 

I2th   December,    1914.— Russian  advance 

arrested. 

To  sum  up  in  a  few  words  : 

The  fighting  on  both  sides  after  the  war 
broke  out  was  in  its  earliest  stage  an  offensive, 
undertaken  with  a  view  to  secure  a  firm 
defensive.     The   Russian  invasion  of  East 


PRZEMYSL   FALLS 


181 


Prussia  was  successful  until  their  defeat  at 
Tannenberg  by  Hindenburg.    The  operations 
in  GaUcia  and  the  Carpathians  opposing  the 
Austrian  advance  may  also  be  said  to  have 
been    successful,    as    the    Russians    proved 
themselves    the     better    soldiers,    and    the 
Austrians  were  repeatedly  beaten  until  Hin- 
denburg   assumed    the    chief    command    in 
Poland,  and  even  then  at  the  close  of  the  year 
they    still   held    a    considerable    portion    of 
German  territory.     The  taking  of  Przemysl 
in  March,  1915,  was  a  great  achievement,  and 
the  tide  did  not  really  begin  to  turn  until  the 
general  advance  of  the  Germans,  under  Hin- 
denburg, in  May,  1915,  when  they  lost  all  their 
previous  gains  and  more.    The  reason  of  their 
reverses  may  be  attributed  to  lack  of  ammuni- 
tion, as  well  as  to  the  overwhelming  number  of 
the  forces  opposed  to  them,  and  the  want  of 
sufficient  railway  accommodation  to  bring  up 
reserves.  The  end  of  1915  finds  the  Germans  in 
Russian  territory  instead  of  Russians  occupy- 
ing German,  as  in  the  previous  year. 

According  to  date,  the  events  of  1915  may 
be  summarized  thus  : 

23rd  March.— Przemysl  taken  by  the  Rus- 
sians. 

8th  May.— Germans  occupy  Libau. 


l82 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Hindenburg's  Grand  Offensive  begun 

3rd  June. — Przemysl  retaken. 

22nd  June. — Lemberg  recaptured. 

31st  June. — Lublin  evacuated. 

4th  August.— Fall  of  Warsaw.  Taken  by 
Prince  Leopold  of  Bavaria. 

17th  August. — Fall  of  Knovno. 

i8th  August. — Russian  naval  victory. 

2nd  September. — Fall  of  Grodno. 

i8th  September. — Vilna  occupied. 

6th  October.— Austro  -  Germans  invade 
Serbia. 

i6th  October. — German  advance  on  Riga. 

27th  October. — Varna  bombarded  by  the 
Russians. 

5th  November. — Germans  take  Nish  and 
secure  the  Berlin-Egypt  Railway. 

nth  November. — Russian  success  at  Riga. 

Thus  the  Russian  successes  of  1914  were 
not  continued  during  1915  ;  in  fact,  by  the 
summer  of  that  year  she  lost,  as  just  stated, 
all  and  more  than  she  had  formerly  gained. 

After  the  Germans  were  checked  in  the 
north  and  the  Austrians  beaten  in  the  south 
and  driven  over  the  Carpathians,  the  main 
southern   Russian  army  advanced  towards 


GERMAN  ADVANCE  IN  1915     183 

Hungary.  In  January  they  had  defeated  the 
Turks  at  Sarykamysh,  and  again  near  Kara 
Urgen,  in  the  Caucasus.  Hindenburg  had 
been  held  back  before  Warsaw  at  the  close  of 
1914,  and  Mackensen,  acting  under  him,  had 
failed  to  penetrate  the  Russian  lines  to  the 
west  of  that  city. 

There  was  hard  fighting  during  the  months 
of  January  and  February,  1915.  A  German 
onslaught  from  East  Prussia  defeated  the 
Russians  on  the  tenth  of  February,  while 
Austro-Germans  tried  to  recover  Eastern 
Galicia,  but  were  beaten  back,  not  getting 
further  than  Buligrad,  and  on  the  twenty-fifth 
of  February  the  Germans,  who  had  sur- 
rounded Prasnysz  on  the  south,  were  in  their 
turn  enveloped,  and  retreated  towards  Mlava, 
leaving  some  ten  thousand  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  Russians.  Shortly  after  Przemysl 
fell,  on  the  twenty-second  of  March. 

Between  19th  March  and  12th  April  the 
Russians  (it  was  said)  had  captured  seventy 
thousand  men  and  nine  hundred  officers. 

The  great  German  offensive  commenced  in 
Western  Galicia  at  the  beginning  of  May, 
and  on  the  second  of  that  month  an  army, 
under  Mackensen,  burst  through  the  Russian 
defences  on  the  Dunajee  and  compelled  the 
whole  of  the  Russian  southern  army  to  re- 


!!^ 


H 


t 


II 


tl 


184 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


treat,  losing  half  GaUcia.  The  San  was 
crossed,  with  great  loss  of  life,  and,  on  the 
third  of  June,  Przemysl  was  recaptured.  A 
huge  German  army,  consisting  of  some  thirty- 
five  army  corps,  attacked  the  army  under 
General  Ivanoff,  forced  it  back,  essayed  to 
separate  the  Russian  southern  and  central 
armies,  recaptured  Lemberg,  and  aimed  at 
LubUn  and  Brest-Lit ovsk. 

Another  German  offensive  coming  from 
East  Prussia  attacked  the  Russians  at  Narew, 
where  there  was  furious  fighting  ;  but  the 
Russians  were,  owing  to  the  lack  of  munitions, 
unable  to  make  a  long  stand,  and  the  German 
offensive  extended  up  to  the  Baltic.  In  the 
middle  of  July,  Kraznostaw  on  the  Wiepry 
fell  to  Mackensen  and  the  Archduke  Ferdi- 
nand. Mackensen  advanced  to  the  Cholm- 
Lublin  line,  another  force  was  over  the  Narew, 
another  over  the  Vistula,  a  third  on  the 
Niemen,  and  a  general  Russian  retirement 
became  compulsory,  Warsaw  being  abandoned 
on  the  fifth  of  August.  But  the  retreat  was 
admirably  conducted  by  the  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas,  in  spite  of  his  great  want  of  shells 
and  of  munitions  of  all  kinds,  and  the  army 
was  saved  from  being  encompassed,  though 
the  fortresses  fell  in  succession.  Any  attempt 
to  seriously  protect  them  must  have  placed 


GERMAN  SUCCESSES  IN  1915    185 

the  army  in  great  jeopardy,  and  its  preserva- 
tion was  necessarily  the  first  consideration. 
Kovno,  which  guarded  the  trunk  railway  from 
East  Prussia  to  Vilna  and  Minsk,  fell  on  the 
seventh  of  August,  then  Novo  Georgievsk  on 
the  nineteenth,  then  Osovie,  then  Brest- 
Litovsk  on  the  twenty-fifth,  and  lastly, 
Grodno  on  the  second  of  September.  A 
change  in  the  supreme  command  then  took 
place,  the  Czar  assuming  the  leadership  in 
person,  while  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  went 
to  the  Caucasus.  The  Russian  army  retreat- 
ing from  Vilna  was  for  a  time  in  peril,  but  got 
clear  of  the  enemy,  and  the  retreat  ended  on 
the  line  Riga-Dvinsk-Rovno.  Therefore  the 
year  concluded  by  seeing  the  Germans  in 
possession  of  Poland  and  Courland  and  the 
greater  portion  of  GaUcia,  some  125,000 
square  miles,  being  an  area  more  than  half 
the  size  of  Germany  itself,  though  Ivanoff 
still  held  a  small  portion  of  it  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  driving  the  Austrians  out  of  Luck 
at  the  close  of  September  and  in  October 
breaking  the  Austro-German  line  on  the 
Strypa  at  Hajworonka,  and  gaining  a  victory 
in  GaUcia  at  the  beginning  of  November. 

The  town  of  Pinsk  surrendered  to  Mac- 
Icensen  on  the  fifteenth,  and  Vilna  was 
occupied  by  the  Germans  on  the  eighteenth 


1 86 


i! 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


of  September,  and  on  the  sixth  of  October 
the  Austro-German  invasion  of  Serbia  com- 
menced. The  sixteenth  witnessed  an  advance 
on  Riga,  but  the  twenty-third  was  signalized 
by  a  Russian  victory,  and  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  they  bombarded  Varna  in  the  Black 
Sea.  On  the  fifth  of  November  the  Germans 
took  Nish,  in  Serbia,  and  secured  the  Berlin- 
Egypt  Railway  route ;  but  the  Russians 
gained  a  success  at  Riga  on  the  eleventh  of 
November.  In  Asia,  on  the  tenth  of  Dec- 
ember, they  occupied  Hamaden,  and  Kum 
on  the  twenty-first,  a  place  lying  south  of  the 
Caspian  and  near  to  Teheran.  This  closes  the 
chief  mihtary  events  of  the  year  1915.  The 
British  retreat  to  Kut-el-Amara  took  place 
about  three  weeks  previously,  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  November. 

Therefore  the  year  1915  witnessed  great 
changes  in  the  fortunes  of  Russia.  In  1914 
people  talked  of  the  Russian  steam-roller, 
of  her  having  eight  million  men  in  the  field 
(which  must  have  been  a  gross  exaggeration), 
and  of  her  advance  in  East  Prussia  towards 
Berhn.  Austria  was  deemed  to  be  entirely 
defeated,  and  the  earlier  part  of  1915  saw 
Russia  on  the  Carpathian  mountains  ready 
to  invade  Hungary ;  but  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year  Galicia  and  Poland  were  entirely 


PARTIAL  RECOVERY  IN  1916     187 

lost,  and  the  Russian  army  was  retreating, 
under  great  difficulties,  to  its  own  frontiers, 
in  spite  of  the  most  resolute  resistance. 

The  close  of  the  year,  however,  witnessed 
a  revival.  The  lack  of  ammunition,  shells, 
and  heavy  guns  was  to  some  extent  remedied, 
about  two  million  recruits  had  been  embodied, 
and  the  German  attempts  to  reach  the  Baltic 
failed,  though  Serbia,  Russia's  protege,  had 
been  overrun,  chiefly  owing  to  Bulgarian  dis- 
affection, aided  by  the  accession  of  an 
enormous  number  of  German  troops  detached 
from  the  Russian  frontier. 

The  heavy  task  which  she  had  to  face  since 
her  severe  reverses  on  the  Dunajee  and  Biala, 
namely,  to  organize  munitions  and  to  train 
new  armies,  was  successfully  accompUshed. 
SuppUes  reached  her  from  Japan  and  from  the 
United  States,  and  the  Empire  presented  the 
look  of  a  vast  military  camp,  with  recruits 
continually  drilling  in  all  the  great  cities. 
The  village  of  Kuiasa  was  retaken,  and  the 
enemy  driven  back  to  the  right  bank  of  the 
Dniester,  and  between  there  and  the  Rouman- 
ian frontier  the  wire  entanglements  of  the 
Germans  were  forced,  while  the  Austrians 
failed  in  breaking  the  Russian  hold  on  Galicia. 
Through  the  energy  of  her  forces,  the  intended 
attack  on  Salonica  was  delayed,  while  a  great 


\ 


fl 


1 88 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


offensive  against  the  Austrians  was  prepared 
on  the  Bessarabian  front. 

The  year  1916  has  by  no  means  been  so 
unfavourable  for  Russia  as  the  preceding 
year,  a  new  life  being  imparted  to  the  Eastern 
giant ;  yet,  from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
accurate  information  and  the  widely  divergent 
accounts  to  hand  from  different  sources,  the 
accuracy  of  the  facts  of  the  great  struggle 
cannot  be  entirely  relied  upon. 

An  exact  history  of  the  Russian  share  in 
the  war  will  probably  not  be  obtainable  until 
some  time  after  it  is  over.  However,  accord- 
ing to  official  despatches  and  the  accounts  of 
correspondents,  the  following  is  a  brief  resume 
of  the  main  features  of  the  contest  in  1916. 

In  January  General  Kuropatkin  attacked 
on  the  Dvina  front,  and  also  the  Russians 
defeated  the  Turks  at  Kapri-Keni  and  Hassan 
Kala,  forcing  them  upon  Erzeroum,  which 
town  General  Yudenich  stormed  in  February, 
taking  some  thirteen  thousand  prisoners. 
Erzeroum  is  the  chief  city  in  Turkish  Armenia, 
lying  some  6,500  feet  above  sea-level,  and  has 
a  population  of  over  fifty  thousand.  It  has 
belonged  to  Turkey  since  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  though  it  has  been  in  Russian 
possession  in  1829  and  1878,  but  was  on  each 
occasion  restored  to  the  Turks. 


TREBIZOND   TAKEN 


189 


The  month  of  March  was  marked  by  heavy 
fighting  near  Riga,  in  which  the  Russians 
held  their  own. 

In  April,  General  Yudenich  took  Trebizond, 
the  defending  Turkish  army  numbering  nearly 
fifty  thousand  men. 

May  witnessed  severe  counter-attacks  on 
the  Russian  forces  by  the  Turks  in  Armenia, 
which  the  Russians  repelled. 

In  June  a  Russian  offensive  opened  on  the 
Southern  front,  along  a  distance  of  some 
220  miles  in  Volhynia,  Gahcia,  and  Bukovina, 
driving  deep  wedges  on  Luck,  the  Volhynia 
stronghold,  and  on  the  Styr  and  the  Strypa 
they  regained  nearly  all  the  territory  they 
had  lost  since  the  preceding  September. 
General  Brusiloff ,  successor  to  General  Ivanoff 
in  command  of  the  Southern  army,  captured 
Torchin,  marking  an  advance  in  the  direction 
of  Vladimir  Volynsk,  an  ancient  town  where 
the  PoUsh,  Russian,  and  Galician  frontiers 
meet  and  lying  fifty  miles  west  of  Luck,  push- 
ing the  enemy  back  from  the  southern  part  of 
the  Pripet  Marshes  to  the  Roumanian  frontier. 
Snialyn,  lying  south  of  the  Dniester,  was  next 
occupied,  and  then  Czernovitz,  the  capital  of 
Bukovina,  was  taken  on  the  nineteenth,  the 
Austrian  losses  in  all  being  reputed  to  amount 
to  the  enormous  total  of  232,000  and  114,000 
prisoners. 


I90 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


In  Armenia,  Erzingan  was  captured  by 
General  Evert.  In  July  the  town  of  Beres- 
tecxko  fell,  which  lies  south  of  the  Lipa,  and 
on  the  Styr  General  Sakharoff' s  army  broke 
the  Austrian  front  south  of  Lutsk,  in  Volhynia, 
capturing  the  town  of  Brody  (July  28)  and 
approaching  the  crests  of  the  Carpathians. 
There  was  heavy  fighting  on  the  Pripet 
Marshes,  without  much  result,  though  the 
Russians  held  the  line  of  the  Stokhod — the 
result  of  seven  weeks'  persistent  effort  being 
that  General  Brusiloff  gained  important 
successes  in  GaUcia,  got  possession  of  the 
Lemberg-Tarnopol  railway,  defeated  large 
Austrian  forces  north-west  of  Kimpolung  and 
drove  the  enemy  back  from  Delatyn,  the 
whole  sector  of  the  winter  base  established  by 
them  in  front  of  Tarnopol  and  Bucnez  having 
fallen  into  his  hands,  and  the  entire  line  of  the 
Strypa,  the  Austrian  General  Bothmer  re- 
treating to  escape  envelopment.  Therefore, 
by  the  end  of  August  the  Russians  occupied 
territory  to  the  extent  of  ten  thousand  versts 
(six  thousand  square  miles),  together  with  an 
immense  quantity  of  guns,  stores,  and 
material. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  August  Roumania 
declared  war,  seized  the  Carpathian  passes 
of  the  Transylvanian  Alps,  occupying  about 


ROUMANIA  JOINS  IN  THE  WAR  191 

a  third  of  the  province  on  a  front  of  about 
350  miles,  bombarded  Hermanstadt,  and 
captured  the  Iron  Gates  of  the  Danube.  The 
Russians  sent  forces  to  help  them,  and 
Brusiloff 's  advance  into  Gahcia  was  at  an  end, 
but  he  is  said  in  all  to  have  inflicted  a  loss  of 
eight  hundred  thousand  men  upon  the  enemy 
in  four  months,  including  four  hundred 
thousand  prisoners. 

Early  in  September  the  Roumanians  over- 
came the  difficulties  of  throwing  pontoons 
across  the  Danube  and  estabUshed  sixteen 
battalions   on   the   southern   bank   between 
Rustchuk    and    Tutrakan,    but    Mackensen, 
who    commanded    south    of    the    Danube, 
destroyed  the  pontoons  and  compelled  General 
Averesco  to  recross  and  abandon  the  position. 
That  month  also  witnessed  a  fearful  struggle 
between  the  river  Pripet  and  the  Carpathians, 
and  the  Russians  occupied  heights  on  the 
Hungarian  frontier,  from  Bukovina  and  in  the 
region  of  Mount  Kapul,  carrying  Mount  Kapul 
and  the  whole  chain  north  of  that  mountain. 
Also  the  Russians  and  Roumanians  held  on 
to  the  Dobrudja  during  October  against  the 
attacks  of  Falkenhayn,    and    the    Russians 
helped  to  defend  the  passes  into  Roumania, 
but  Mackensen  compelled  them  to  abandon 
the  Dobrudja. 


192 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Hindenburg  after  severe  fighting  recovered 
Transylvania,  and  after  a  hard  fought  battle 
at  Tirgu  Jiu  occupied  Craiova  on  Novem- 
ber 2 1st.  Mackensen  crossed  the  Danube 
on  the  twenty-third  of  November,  took 
Constanza  on  the  twenty-fourth,  and  joined 
Falkenhayn,  who  commanded  the  German 
ninth  army.  They  won  a  battle  at  Arges, 
and  on  the  sixth  of  December  entered 
Bucharest,  the  Roumanians  retreating  to- 
wards the  Sereth,  where  they  gained  Russian 
protection,  the  Russian  army,  which  had 
failed  in  forcing  the  Carpathians  in  face  of  the 
Austrians,  having .  advanced  south  to  their 

relief. 

One  disadvantage  to  Roumania  was  that 
her  frontiers  were  surrounded  by  enemies, 
except  on  the  side  abutting  on  Russia  and 
the  Black  Sea,  and  the  strength  of  her  armies 
(about  four  hundred  thousand)  was  dispro- 
portionate to  the  length  of  her  frontiers,  the 
open  frontier  of  the  Dobrudja  being  one 
hundred  miles  long,  for  instance.  She  also 
appears  to  have  declared  war  before  she  was 
ready  to  contend  with  the  armies  Falkenhayn 
and  Mackensen  could  bring  against  her,  and 
the  Russian  assistance  was  not  sufficiently 
strong  to  save  her.  Although  Brusiloff  did 
his  utmost  to  fight  in  the  Carpathians,  and 


ROUMANIAN    REVERSES       193 

thus  draw  pressure  away  from  Roumania,  he 
was  unsuccessful,  and  the  German  troops 
overran  Wallachia,  taking  position  after 
position,  and  on  the  sixth  of  December 
Bucharest  was  occupied  by  Mackensen. 
General  Averesco  was  beaten  on  the  Argesul 
after  a  three  days'  battle.  On  the  twelfth 
came  the  foolish  German  overtures  of  peace, 
which  have  been  so  disdainfully  treated  by 
the  allies,  ignoring,  as  they  (the  Germans)  did, 
their  reverses  in  the  West,  and  elsewhere,  and 
posing  as  conquerors  when,  as  was  suspected 
in  some  quarters,  they  were  getting  towards 
their  last  gasp.  As,  however,  this  work 
concerns  Russia  alone,  we  merely  state  the 
Czar's  manifesto  to  his  army  and  navy.  It 
may  be  interesting  as  it  is  doubtless  his  last. 

THE   MANIFESTO 

It  is  now  more  than  two  years  since 
Germany,  in  the  midst  of  peace  and  after 
secretly  -preparing  over  a  long  period  to  en- 
slave all  the  nations  of  Europe,  suddenly 
attacked  Russia  and  her  faithful  ally,  France. 
This  attack  compelled  England  to  join  us  and 
take  part  in  our  battle. 

The  complete  disdain  which  Germany 
showed  to  principles  of  international  law,  as 


Ik 


1 


ii 

k   ■ 

i 

ii. 


194  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

demonstrated  by  the  violation  of  the  neutral- 
ity of  Belgium  and  her  pitiless  cruelty  towards 
the  peaceful  inhabitants  in  the  occupied 
provinces,  little  by  little  united  the  Great 
Powers  of  Europe  against  Germany  and  her 

ally,  Austria. 

Under  the  pressure  of  the  German  troops, 
which  were  well  provided  with  the  technical 
aids  to  warfare,  Russia,  as  well  as  France, 
were  compelled  in  the  first  year  of  the  war  to 
give  up  a  portion  of  their  territory,  but  this 
temporary  reverse  did  not  break  the  spirit  of 
our  faithful  allies,  nor  of  you,  my  gallant 

troops. 

In  time,  by  the  concentrated  efforts  of  the 
Government,  the  inequalities  between  our 
own  and  the  German  technical  resources  were 
gradually  reduced.  But  long  before  this  time, 
even  from  the  autumn  of  1915,  our  enemy 
was  experiencing  difficulty  in  retaining  a 
single  portion  of  Russian  soil,  and  in  the 
spring  and  summer  of  the  current  year 
suffered  a  number  of  severe  defeats  and 
assumed  the  defensive  along  the  whole  front. 
His  strength  apparently  is  waning,  but  the 
strength  of  Russia  and  her  gallant  allies 
continues  to  grow  without  faihng. 


CZAR'S    MANIFESTO 


195 


(German  haste  for  Peace) 

Germany  is  feeling  that  the  hour  of  her 
complete  defeat  is  near,  and  also  the  hour  of 
retribution  for  all  her  wrong-doings  and  for 
the  violation  of  moral  laws.  Similarly,  as  in 
the  time  when  her  war  strength  was  superior 
to  the  strength  of  her  neighbours,  Germany 
suddenly  declared  war  on  them,  so  now,  feel- 
ing her  weakness,  she  suddenly  offers  to  enter 
into  peace  negotiations.  Particularly  she 
desires  to  begin  these  negotiations  and  to 
complete  them  before  her  military  talent  is 
exhausted.  At  the  same  time,  she  is  creating 
a  false  impression  about  the  strength  of  her 
army  by  making  use  of  her  temporary  success 
over  the  Roumanians,  who  had  not  succeeded 
in  gaining  experience  in  the  conduct  of  modern 
warfare. 

But  if,  originally,  Germany  was  in  the 
position  to  declare  war  and  fall  upon  Russia 
and  her  ally,  France,  at  her  most  favourable 
time,  having  strengthened  in  war-time  the 
Alliance  in  which  is  to  be  found  all-mighty 
England  and  noble  Italy,  this  AlUance,  in  its 
turn,  has  also  the  possibility  of  entering  into 
peace  negotiations  at  such  a  time  as  it 
considers  favourable. 

The  time  has  not  yet  arrived.    The  enemy 


196 


RUSSIA'S    STORY 


has  not  yet  been  driven  out  of  the  provinces 
occupied  by  him.  The  attainment  by  Russia 
of  the  tasks  created  by  the  war— the  regaining 
of  Constantinople  and  the  Dardanelles  as  well 
as  the  creation  of  a  free  Poland  from  all  three 
of  her  now  incomplete  tribal  districts— has 
not  yet  been  guaranteed. 

To  conclude  peace  at  this  moment  would 
mean  the  failure  to  utilize  the  fruits  of  the  un- 
told trials  of  you,  heroic  Russian  troops  and 
fleet.  These  trials,  and  still  more  the  sacred 
memory  of  those  noble  sons  of  Russia  who 
have  fallen  on  the  field  of  battle,  do  not  permit 
the  thought  of  peace  until  the  final  victory 
over  our  enemies. 

{Let  us  he  firm) 

Who  dares  to  think  that  he  who  brought  about 
the  commencement  of  the  war  shall  have  it  in  his 
power  to  conclude  the  war  at  any  time  he  likes  ? 

I  do  not  doubt  but  that  every  faithful  son 
of  holy  Russia  under  arms  who  entered  into 
the  firing  line,  as  well  as  those  working  in  the 
interior  for  the  increase  of  her  war  strength 
or  the  creation  of  her  industry,  will  be  con- 
vinced that  peace  can  be  given  to  the  enemy 
only  after  he  has  been  driven  from  our  borders, 
and  then  only  when,  finally  broken,  he  shall 


CZAR'S    MANIFESTO  i97 

give  to  us  and  our  faithful  aUies  reliable  proof 
of  the  impossibiUty  of  a  repetition  of  the 
treacherous  attack  and  a  firm  assurance  that 
he  will  keep  to  these  promises.  By  the 
strength  of  these  guarantees  he  will  be  bound 
to  the  fulfilment  in  times  of  peace  of  those 
things  which  he  undertakes. 

Let  us  be  firm  in  the  certainty  of  our 
victory,  and  the  All  Highest  will  bless  our 
standards  and  will  cover  them  afresh  with 
glory,  and  will  give  to  us  a  peace  worthy  of 
your  heroic  deeds,  my  glorious  troops— a 
peace  for  which  the  future  generation  will 
bless  your  memory,  which  will  be  sacred  to 
them.  Nicholas. 


M 


> 

4 


PART   III 

THE   REVOLUTION,   1917 

An  event  of  stupendous  magnitude  oc- 
curred in  Russia  last  year,  so  stupen- 
dous that  its  effects  probably  will  not  be 
capable  of  being  properly  estimated  by  the 
world  at  large  for  some  time  to  come.  The 
Czar  has  abdicated,  and  the  ancient  dynasty 
of  the  Romanoffs,  which  has  existed  since 
the  Boyars  in  1612,  called  Michael,  the  head 
of  that  house,  to  the  throne,  is  overthrown, 
never  again,  as  far  as  can  be  seen  at  present, 
to  rule  the  Empire  of  all  the  Russias.  Russia 
has  always  been  the  symbol  of  autocratic 
power  and  the  White  Czar  a  despot ;  the  *'  little 
father,"  as  he  has  been  called  by  his  people, 
numbering  some  160  or  170  miUions,  whose 
rule  extended  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Pacific 
and  from  the  Arctic  Circle  to  the  Caucasus — 
one  may  almost  say,  from  the  highest  civihza- 
tion  of  Europe  to  the  lowest  barbarism  of 
Asia — is  now  a  private  person,  and,  moreover, 
in  durance  vile.  The  Enghsh  nation  has 
rejoiced  at  the  change,  believing  that  German 

198 


RUSSIAN    FIRST   SUCCESSES     199 

influence  is  to  the  fore  at  the  Russian  Court, 
and  apt  to  shake  the  fidelity  of  the  ally  to 
whom  we  have  advanced  some  400  millions 
for  its  aid  in  the  war. 

Doubtless  it  is  so,  but  we  must  remember 
that  it  was  Russia  against  whom  Germany 
first  declared  war,  that  Russia  in  1914  gained 
many  victories  over  the  enemy,  made  con- 
siderable advances  into  East  Prussian  terri- 
tory, had  had  thousands  and  thousands  of  her 
soldiery  killed  in  battle,  and  was  only  driven 
back  in  1915  owing  to  her  lack  of  munitions, 
and  further,  that  she  recovered  in  1916  a  part 
of  what  she  had  lost.    She  was  a  faithful  ally 
to  the  entente  Powers  for  more  than  two  years, 
and  it  was  only  in  the  autumn  of  1916  that  it 
was  believed  that  she  was  on  the  verge  of 
making    a    separate    peace    with    Germany 
through  her  Premier,  M.  Sturmer,  a  rumour 
which  has  in  no  way  been  verified,  but  which, 
doubtless,  has  some  foundation.     The  same 
may  be  said  with  numerous  reports  since, 
about  Russia  breaking  with  her  allies.    We 
have  no  exact  information  as  to  the  intrigues 
working  in  Russia,  nor  are  we  Ukely  to  have, 
but  what  does  come  to  the  surface  induces 
us  to  believe  that  Russia  is  still  staunch  to 
us,   though   there    is   no   doubt    that   even 
before  the  Czar's  fall  there  was  hidden  in- 


i 


200 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


I  i 


I) 


fluence  working,  and  it  is  that  influence  which 
has  produced  the  present  situation. 

From  the  close  of  1916  there  had  been  but 
little  intelligence  touching  the  Russian  front. 
As  usual,  there  were  accounts  of  stray  skirm- 
ishes and  rumours  of  impending  events,  but 
no  more.  A  few  persons  who  had  secret  in- 
formation suspected  that  a  cyclonic  change 
was  impending,  but  to  the  bulk  of  the  British 
public  it  came  as  a  surprise  and  burst  like  a 
thunderbolt  upon  a  startled  world. 

Nothing  can  be  said  against  the  Czar 
personally.  His  private  character  is  estim- 
able as  compared  with  the  characters  of  other 
^  rulers  of  the  Empire.  But  his  position  de- 
manded something  more  than  a  king  of  a 
kind  and  amiable  disposition,  and  had  he 
been  fashioned  in  a  sterner  mould  it  is  un- 
likely that  the  revolution  would  have  taken 
place  at  all.  We  must  remember  that  most 
of  the  upheavals  in  the  world's  history  have 
taken  place  when  a  weak-kneed  monarch  was 
on  the  throne.  To  take  two  notable  examples: 
the  dethronement  of  Charles  I  in  England, 
and  the  French  Revolution.  The  Enghsh 
struggles  for  constitutional  rights  may  be  said 
to  have  continued  persistently  during  the 
Plantagenet  and  the  later  Tudor  periods,  but 
they  never  assumed  the  form  of  upsetting 


CZAR'S   WEAKNESS 


201 


regal  power,  but  merely  to  obtain  popular 
rights  ;  dynastic  changes  occurred  through 
other  causes,  as  the  claims  of  particular 
aspirants  to  the  throne.  Henry  VII  and 
Henry  VIII,  and  even  Elizabeth,  had  lofty 
notions  of  the  royal  prerogative  and  England 
was  almost  a  despotism  under  their  rule  ;  yet 
they  were  rulers  of  power  and  character,  and, 
moreover,  had  the  tact  to  cover  their  acts 
with  parliamentary  sanction.  Hence  they 
were  popular,  and  there  was  no  desire  to 
depose  them.  But  when  a  weak  ruler 
succeeded,  with  the  same  notions  of  the 
personal  irresponsibility  of  the  sovereign, 
but  without  craft  or  conduct,  the  nation 
insisted  on  and  ultimately  fought  for  their 
rights,  and  the  result  was  the  overthrow  of 
the  Crown. 

So  with  the  French  Revolution.  The  House 
of  Bourbon  oppressed  the  French  people  for 
centuries,  making  life  almost  intolerable  for 
them,  yet  they  tamely  endured  it ;  but  they 
revenged  upon  the  first  weak  ruler  the  crimes 
of  his  ancestors. 

The  Czar,  seeing  that  he  was  completely  in 
the  hands  of  pro-Grerman  advisers,  may  be 
deemed  fortunate  in  having  escaped  with  his 
life,  and  the  leaders  of  the  Revolution  in 
having  achieved  their  aims  with  so  little  blood- 


202 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


shed  and  opposition  ;  the  more  so  considering 
that  Russia  is  still  a  half-civilized  country, 
where  human  life  is  deemed  of  little  account. 
We  say  *'  with  so  little  bloodshed  '*  advisedly. 
It  is  true  that  there  were  thousands  killed  at 
Petrograd  during  the  fighting  with  the  police, 
but  yet  that  is  small  considering  the  popula- 
tion of  the  Russian  Empire,  the  vastness  of 
the  achievement  and  the  fact  that  the 
country,  from  its  very  infancy,  has  been  under 
the  power  of  despotic  princes,  as  its  history 
proves  ;  also  the  fact  that,  whenever  conflicts 
have  hitherto  taken  place  blood  has  been 
wasted  like  water  and  life  thought  nothing  of. 
In  fact,  any  person  knowing  Russia,  if  con- 
sulted a  year  (say)  ago  about  the  cost  of  a 
revolution,  would  have  predicted  a  bitter 
struggle  prolonged  for  months  and  extending 
to  every  city  of  importance  in  the  Empire. 
Yet  the  fighting  was  all  over  in  a  week,  and 
confined  to  the  Capital.  Its  shortness  is  due 
to  the  army  (the  Cossacks  especially)  siding 
with  the  people,  so  that  the  police,  that  most 
corrupt  and  venal  body,  alone  held  out  for  the 
Government.  If  the  army  had  wavered, 
the  Revolution  must  assuredly  have  failed. 

Further,  the  people  were  all  with  the  revolu- 
tionists ;  the  Government  and  the  Court  were 
detested  and  had  the  confidence  of  none — not 


THE    REVOLUTIONISTS        203 

even  of  the  most  ignorant  of  the  peasantry. 
Russia,  as  we  know,  has  been  a  country  of 
unrest  for  years.  We  have  deemed  it  the 
cradle  of  the  secret  societies  of  anarchists  and 
nihilists,  whose  aim  is  the  destruction  of 
exalted  persons.  But  the  present  revolution- 
ists are  different  to  these.  Anarchists  and 
nihilists  aim  at  the  murder  of  individuals 
whom  they  stigmatize  as  tyrants;  their 
motive  is  revenge  and  their  object  destruction. 
The  revolutionist  is  a  patriot  ;  his  object  is 
the  development  and  improvement  of  his 
country  and  the  sweeping  away  of  abuses  and 
of  evil  rule.  The  rule  of  the  Governments  of 
Russia  has  for  centuries  been  bad,  and  even 
if  a  Czar  has  some  good  qualities,  as  we  have 
shown  in  the  previous  history  that  many  of 
them  had  the  interest  of  their  people  at  heart, 
they  have  been  so  surrounded  and  influenced 
by  ministers  and  flatterers  seeking  their  own 
ends  that  no  beneficial  result  has  passed  to 
the  people,  who  have  remained  in  poverty 
and  starvation,  or  on  the  borders  of  it. 

The  police  have  even  been  the  chosen 
instruments  of  the  Governments  for  the 
oppression  of  the  masses.  From  the  heads 
downwards  they  are  accessible  to  bribes, 
fawning  to  those  above  them  and  crushing 
those  below,  with  every  human  sympathy 


204 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


^ 

' 


extinct  in  their  breasts.  The  secret  police 
service  was  instituted  years  ago  by  Govern- 
ment to  keep  the  people  down  with  an  iron 
hand  and  prevent  any  enlightenment  as  to 
their  real  position. 

But  a  few  men  of  understanding  started 
the  revolutionary  party,  a  body  compulsorily 
secret  also,  and  designed  to  combat  the 
official  oppressors.  This  party  had  largely 
increased,  but  lack  of  organization  or  one 
accident  or  another  has  prevented  their 
making  any  head  hitherto,  and  all  risings 
have  proved  abortive  —  the  recent  one  of 
1905,  to  wit,  which  was  suppressed  owing  to 
the  vigilance  of  the  Government  in  forcing 
a  premature  outbreak. 

The  object  of  this  party  of  revolution  is  the 
development  of  the  resources  of  the  country, 
the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the 
people,  and  the  overthrow  of  ministers  and 
rulers  who  work  for  their  own  ends  and  are 
totally  regardless  of  the  welfare  of  those  over 
whom  they  are  placed. 

The  qualities  displayed  by  the  leaders  of  the 
present  revolutionary  party  affords  a  brilliant 
illustration  of  the  innate  humanity  and  self- 
control  of  the  Russian  people.  No  desire  for 
revenge,  no  private  hostility,  no  wanton 
bloodshed,  no  needless  destruction  of  property 


OBJECT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION     205 

characterized   this   movement,   but   it   was 
undertaken  with  the  sole  intention  to  displace 
a  corrupt  Government  and  a  helpless  Czar, 
who  were  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy 
and  acting  falsely  to  the  common  cause  to 
which   the    Empire    had    bound  herself   in 
1914,  and  to  give  to  its  vast  masses   the 
rights  which   had  been  so  long  denied  to 
them.     True,  there  was  considerable  blood- 
shed during  the  five  days  of  the  struggle,  but 
this  was  chiefly  due  to  the  poUce,  the  minions 
of  the  Government,  firing  from  machine  guns 
into  the  congested  masses  of  the  people,  who 
for  a  while  bore  it  patiently  ;  further,  there  is 
little  room  for  doubt  but  that  a  massacre  on 
a  still  greater  scale   was   designed  by  the 
authorities  on  a  deliberate  plan  to  crush  a 
rising  which  they  had  instructed  their  agents, 
the  agitators,  to  foment. 

Compare  this  Revolution  with  the  French 
Revolution  of  1789— and  yet  the  French 
civilization  amongst  the  lower  classes  was 
higher  then  than  that  of  the  Russian  at  the 
present  day,  and  the  nation  had  not  been 
downtrodden  for  a  longer  period. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  war 
the  revolutionary  leaders  began  to  distrust 
the  Government  and  suspect  that  it  was 
under  the  German  influence  which  has  long 


ll 


206 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


been  prevalent  in  Russia.    It  was  even  sus- 
pected that  Protropopoff,  who  was  in  charge 
of  affairs  after  the  fall  of  Sturmer,  desired  to 
force  a  revolt,  crush  it  brutally,  and  then 
proclaim  that  such  a  revolution  left  Russia 
no  alternative  but  to  conclude  a  separate 
peace  with  Germany,  thus  putting  the  country 
under  Germany's  heel  and  breaking  with  the 
allies.    Certain  it  is  that  the  pohce  in  Petro- 
grad  were  largely  increased,   that   machine 
guns  and  ammunition,  etc.,  were  placed  on 
the    roofs    of    public    and    large    buildings, 
churches,  etc.,  and  that  suppHes  of  food  were 
diverted  from  Petrograd  and  from  the  front 
and  sent  to  the  Ural  Mountains,  where  supphes 
were  plentiful,  and  other  things  were  done 
which  pointed  to  betrayal  of  the  country, 
such  as  an  international  disorganization  of  the 
railway  system,  thus  staying  transport  :    all 
which  is  admirably  described  in  a  recent  work 
by   Mr.   Stinton   Jones   (entitled  Russia  in 
Revolution),  who  was  in  Petrograd  when  it 
took  place  and  an  eye-witness  of  the  struggle. 
The  shortage  of  provisions  became  very 
serious,  and  on  the  sixth  of  March  (twenty- 
first  of  February  Russian  time)  workers  from 
some  of  the  larger  munition  works  came  out 
on  strike,  with  a  view  to  bring  their  deplor- 
able state  of  starvation  to  the  notice  of  the 


THE    REVOLUTION 


207 


Government.  These  were  joined  the  next  day 
by  a  far  larger  number,  and  on  the  eighth 
of  March  food  was  practically  unobtainable, 
and  all  workers,  together  with  their  women 
and  children,  formed  processions,  marching 
through  the  streets  and  crying  *'  Give  us 
bread."  But  all  was  perfectly  peaceful, 
though  many  agitators  in  the  pay  of  the 
police  joined  in  the  processions  and  tried  to 
foment  disturbances.  Many  of  the  police,  too, 
were  dressed  in  soldiers'  uniforms. 

On  the  ninth  of  March  further  confusion 
was  caused  by  the  tramcars  being  stopped  by 
the  agitators,  thus  impeding  business,  and  the 
Cossacks  were  told  to  break  up  the  proces- 
sions, which  they  did  very  good-humouredly, 
not  using  their  whips,  as  usual,  and  they  were 
cheered  by  the  people.  Things  remained 
peaceful  during  the  ninth,  and  the  vodka 
stores  were  secretly  guarded  by  armed  men 
sent  by  Mr.  Rodranko,  the  President  of  the 
Duma.  But  the  crowds  did  not  disperse,  and 
on  the  tenth  were  joined  by  still  larger 
numbers.  Violence  now  commenced.  The 
head  police  officer  ordered  an  immense  mass 
collected  in  the  Square  outside  the  Nikolai 
Station  to  disperse,  and  drew  his  revolver, 
whereupon  a  Cossack  shot  him  dead.  This 
made  the  people  understand  that  the  Cossacks 


h 


208 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Jill 


were  with  them  and  led  them  not  to  fear  the 
poUce,  who  fired  several  volleys  into  the 
crowd. 

On  the  eleventh  of  March  (which  was 
Sunday)  the  Czar  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Rodjanko 
to  dissolve  the  Duma.  This  the  Duma  Com- 
mittee dechned  to  do,  and  on  the  twelfth  two 
regiments  revolted  and  joined  the  people, 
shooting  down  their  officers.  The  poUce  had 
continued  to  fire  on  the  people  all  through 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth,  and  now  the  people, 
being  possessed  of  arms,  shot  down  the 
soldiers,  wrecked  the  arsenal,  and  then  the 
Courts  of  Justice  and  the  prison  adjoining, 
and  afterwards  the  poHce  stations,  letting  out 
the  prisoners, 

The  revolutionary  leaders  then  met  in 
Duma  House  to  discuss  their  plans.  Mr. 
Rodjanko  had  previously  apprised  the  Czar 
by  telegram  of  the  seriousness  of  the  situation, 
requesting  him  to  appoint  someone  trusted 
by  the  country  to  form  another  Ministry.  He 
also  sent  copies  to  the  Commanders  of  the 
Southern,  Middle  and  Northern  armies,  re- 
ceiving replies  from  Generals  Brusiloff  and 

Russki. 

The  pohce  were  killed  and  defeated,  the 
records  burnt,  and  thousands  of  passports 
destroyed,  thus  ending  the  famous  Russian 


PROGRESS   OF    REVOLUTION     209 

passport  system,  and  then  the  Revolution 
may  be  considered  accomplished.  Troops 
were  telegraphed  for  from  various  quarters, 
but  all  on  arriving  joined  the  revolutionists. 
But  three  companies  defended  the  Admiralty, 
where  most  of  the  Ministers  were  in  hiding. 
On  Tuesday  the  famous  Astoria  Hotel  was 
sacked,  there  being  considerable  bloodshed, 
owing  to  the  resistance  of  several  Russian 
officers  residing  there  ;  but  English  officers 
also  there  were  treated  with  great  considera- 
tion, as  were  the  foreigners  and  English  resid- 
ing at  Petrograd,  all  through  the  Revolution, 
a  point  specially  noticed  by  Mr.  Hinton  Jones 
in  his  work,  for  be  it  remembered  that  the 
Revolution  took  place  because  the  leaders 
were  convinced  that  their  Government  was 
betraying  the  cause  of  the  Allies  and  acting 
for  Germany,  and  designed  to  slaughter  and 
starve  the  multitude. 

The  slaughter  in  the  streets  on  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  of  March  was  terrible,  the 
machine  guns  of  the  police  mowing  the  people 
down  in  masses,  till  on  the  thirteenth  the 
latter  got  the  upper  hand  and  made  the 
fortress  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul  their  head- 
quarters. The  telegrams  sent  to  the  Czar  were 
ignored  ;  it  was  averred  that  they  were  kept 
back  from  him  by  the  Ministers  in  attendance. 


I 


li 


2IO 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


On  the  fifteenth  he  abdicated  in  favour  of 
his  brother,  Prince  Michael,  who  when  the 
Provisional  Government  placed  the  manifesto 
before  him,  refused  to  take  the  throne. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Duma 
had  appointed  a  Government,  consisting  of 
twelve  members,  on  the  fifteenth  of  March, 
order  being  then  restored.  The  citizen 
militia,  an  admirable  body  of  men,  materially 
assisted  in  the  preservation  of  order,  and 
a  blizzard  which  swept  the  city  on  the 
seventeenth  also  helped,  as  it  kept  the 
people  in  their  houses  and  the  streets  clear. 
Starvation,  of  course,  continued  for  some  days 
after  the  crisis  was  over,  but  thanks  to  the 
patience  and  endurance  of  the  people,  their 
cheerfulness  and  making  the  best  of  the 
situation,  together  with  the  generosity  of 
those  who  had  previously  been  able  to  collect 
stores  of  food,  the  trouble  was  bridged  over 
without  further  violence. 

The  Empress  was  at  the  palace  at  Tzarskoe 
Selo  during  the  fighting  ;  it  was  said  she  was 
in  hysterics  continually,  a  report  easy  to 
believe.  The  Czar  himself  remained  at 
Peskof ,  a  small  town  south-west  of  Petrograd, 
and  such  Ministers  as  were  arrested  were 
detained  to  await  trial  for  their  plan  to  ruin 
their  country. 


RASPUTIN—HIS   CHARACTER 


211 


The  facts,  then,  were  these,  summed  up  in 
a  small  compass  : 

There  had  been  discontent  with  the  conduct 
of  the  Government  and  suspicion  of  German 
influence  in  Court  circles  for  a  considerable 
time,  but  it  was  deemed  that  no  risings  would 
be  attempted  while  the  war  was  in  progress. 
The  sinister  influence  of  a  man  of  atrocious 
character — a  mock  monk  who  was  known  by 
the  name  of  Rasputin,  though  his  real  name 
was  Gregory  Novikh— was  understood  to  be 
all-powerful  with  high  officials  and  amongst 
the  female  aristocracy.    This  person  had  been 
justly  murdered  in  1916,  but  revelations  of  his 
character  were  disclosed  after  his  death  and 
fomented  the  popular  discontent.    He  appears 
to  have  possessed  an  extraordinary  hypnotic 
influence  upon  women,   having  remarkable 
steel-grey  eyes.     He  was  of  low  origin— an 
illiterate  tnujik,  coming  from  Tobolsk,  where 
he  had  been  imprisoned  and  publicly  flogged 
before  he  burst  upon  Western  Russia.     He 
professed  to  work  miracles,  and  posed  as  a 
"holy    man,"    whereas    he    was    merely    a 
sensualist  and  a  sot.    He,  of  course,  affected 
a  deep  piety,  and  exercised  a  strange  fascina- 
tion over  some  of  the  principal  women  at  the 
Court  of  Petrograd.    He  was  believed  to  have 
the  power  of  effecting  miraculous  cures,  and 


.  J 


lii 


2,2  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

his  influence  even  extended  over  the  Czarina. 
On  one  occasion,  when  imprisoned,  he  was 
permitted  to  telegraph  to  the  Empress,  and 
an  order  came  down  for  his  release  from  the 
Czar  himself.     The  removal  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Nicholas  from  the  post  of  Commander- 
in-Chief  is  said  to  be  due  to  him.  in  revenge 
for  a  severe  castigation  which  the  Duke  had 
formerly  inflicted  on  him.    After  lie  was  shot 
his  body  was  thrown  off  the  Krestofki  Bridge, 
but  recovered,  and  report  avers  it  is  buried  in 
the  grounds  of  the  Tzarskoe  Selo  Palace 
Although  holding  no  official  position  himself 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  he  had  the  disposal 
of  high  offices  of  State,  and  was  a  man  for  an 
aspirant  to  curry  favour  with.  ,. ,  „^. 

The  revolutionary  leaders  certainly  did  not 
intend  an  immediate  overthrow  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  fall  of  the  Crown.    Also  they  feared 
that  on  anv  appearance  of  disturbance  the 
cir  would  close  the  Duma,  which  had  opened 
in  February.    But  in  times  of  popular  excite- 
ment the  horse  sometimes  takes  the  bit  in 
its  mouth  and  runs  away-that  is.  matters 
20  far  beyond  what  the  originators  intend. 
This  Revolution  began  by  the  people  wishing 
the  authorities  to  notice  their  urgent  cry  for 
bread,  and  was  brought  to  a  head  by  the  in- 
human action  of  the  poUce  m  mowing  the 


PROBABLE   FUTURE  213 

multitude  down  by  cannon.  The  admirable 
feature  through  it  all  was  the  praiseworthy 
self-control  of  the  insurgents,  the  absence  of 
any  desire  for  rapine  or  vengeance,  and  their 
unanimity  in  desiring  to  achieve  the  one 
object— the  removal  of  the  enemies  of  the 
country,  a  wish  that  was  endorsed  by  Moscow, 
and  all  the  great  cities  of  the  Empire,  when 
the  intelligence  spread  to  them. 

As  to  the  future,  no  one  can  hazard  a 
forecast.  We  cannot  expect  that  after  so 
mighty  a  Revolution  things  will  quietly  settle 
down.  There  are  several  parties  in  Russia, 
each  with  their  own  aims  and  their  own 
secret  intrigues  that  the  world  knows  nothing 
of.  The  Royalist  party  will,  naturally, 
attempt  to  recover  their  lost  position,  and 
they  will  have  what  remains  of  the  police 

with  them. 

The  people,  though  intoxicated  with  the 
liberty  which  they  have  never  known  before, 
cannot  yet  appreciate  its  advantages — ^it  is 
so  new  to  them.  The  pro-Germans  will  use 
all  their  endeavours  to  bring  about  a  separate 
peace,  and,  in  its  default,  to  foment  civil  war 
and  disturbances,  and  there  are  other  parties, 
such  as  the  Nihilists,  who  will  take  advantage 
of  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country  to 
further  their  own  aims. 


VI 


, 


214 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


For  the  moment  the  Duma  and  the  Pro- 
visional Government  seem  firm  and  staunch 
to  the  allies  ;  any  idea  of  a  separate  peace 
appears  to  be  discredited  ;  the  peoples  of  the 
vast  Empire,  as  far  as  can  be  seen,  are 
unanimously  overjoyed  at  the  change  of 
affairs,  and  there  is  no  symptom  of  any 
resort  to  mob  rule  or  rapine  or  destruction  of 
property. 

(Note. — This  was  written  before  the  Bolsheviks  got  the 
upper  hand.  Things  are  now  changed  and  the  outlook  is  not 
reassuring.     Seeposf). 


V    ' 


ADDENDUM 

In  order  to  bring  this  history  completely  up 
to  date  a  short  resume  is  now  given  of  the 
events  which  are  stated  to  have  occurred  in 
Russia  since  this  work  went  to  press. 

We  pass  no  comment  as  to  their  significance, 
but  the  reader  can  easily  appreciate  the  fact 
that  they  are  of  great  importance. 

After  the  Revolution  became  a  fait  ac- 
compli, news  was  for  a  time  scanty.  The 
Ministers  of  the  Czar,  or  such  of  them  as 
were  caught,  were  confined  in  the  old  fortress 
of  Peter  and  Paul,  which  faces  the  winter 
palace  across  the  Neva,  occupying  the  same 
cells  in  the  Trubelskoi  Bastion  in  which 
former  revolutionaries  were  confined  until 
they  mounted  the  scaffold. 

Amongst  them  were  President  Sturmer, 
Count  Fredericks,  the  gendarmerie  officer, 
Sobieschanski,  *'  the  hangman,"  Sukhom- 
linoff,  the  war  minister  and  his  wife,  Proto- 
popoff,  minister  of  the  Interior,  Madame 
Vnirubova,  an  admirer  and  disciple  of  the 

315 


ii!! 
..I 


2l6 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


ii 


villainous  Gregory  Rasputin,  and  some 
others. 

Reliable  information  towards  the  close  of 
June  was  to  the  effect  that  things  were  by  no 
means  quiet  politically.  A  silent  struggle 
between  the  anarchists  and  the  Provisional 
Government  was  going  on,  while  the  "  little 
Russians "  of  the  Ukraine  and  the  Finns 
demanded  separation  from  Russia,  but  the 
general  disposition  of  the  people  was  against 
a  separate  peace. 

At  the  beginning  of  July  the  world  heard 
that  Brusiloff  had  resumed  the  offensive,  the 
capture  of  Koninkly  being  announced  with 
over  8000  prisoners.  On  the  17th  an  advance 
of  eight  miles  south  of  the  Dneister,  and 
some  fifty-six  miles  south-east  of  Lemberg 
by  General  Korniloff  was  reported,  and  that 
the  number  of  prisoners  had  swollen  to 
26,000,  further  that  Halicz  had  been  captured 
on  July  nth.  But  these  successes  were 
short-lived.  About  the  20th  July  inteUigence 
was  to  hand  to  the  effect  that  mutinous 
symptoms  were  observable  in  Brusiloff 's  army, 
that  detachments  would  not  advance  against 
the  enemy  and  hence  positions  were  lost. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  kill  General 
Kerensky,  the  war  minister,  at  Polotsk,  east 
of  Dvinsk,  but  he  fortunately  escaped.     On 


SHORT-LIVED   SUCCESSES     217 

the  24th  July  the  Russians  lost  Tarnopol  in 
Galicia,  which  had  been  taken  by  them  in 
August,  1914,  and  held  ever  since  ;  also  the 
Germans  occupied  Kolomea.  On  the  2nd 
August,  Brusiloff  resigned,  and  Korniloff 
succeeded.  Brusiloff  had  succeeded  Ivanoff 
early  in  1916,  and  in  his  great  drive  from  the 
Pripet  to  the  Roumanian  frontier  in  that 
year,  he  is  reported  to  have  taken  360,000 
German  and  Austrian  prisoners.  Korniloff 
was  himself  made  a  prisoner  when  Mackensen 
broke  through  the  Dunajetz,  but  after  some 
fifteen  months  he  escaped. 

On  the  7th  August  the  Austro-Germans 
crossed  the  Russian  frontier  and  entered 
Bessarabia,  taking  Prosskaroff  and  Kamenetz, 
the  capital  of  Podalia,  situated  on  the  river 
Smotrich,  a  tributary  of  the  Dneister,  thus 
showing  a  design  to  cut  off  the  Russian 
forces  in  the  Carpathians  and  Roumania. 

Czernovitz,  the  capital  of  Bukovina,  was 
taken  on  the  4th  August,  thus  changing  hands 
for  the  sixth  time  since  the  war  began.  In 
September,  1915,  the  Russians  took  it,  and  it 
was  lost  but  retaken  a  couple  of  months 
later.  In  February,  1916,  the  Austro- 
Germans  took  it,  but  they  were  driven  out 
in  the  same  year. 

Kimpolung  was  abandoned  ;  therefore  the 
p  2 


f 


y 


218 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


result  was  that  all  Galicia,  save  a  small 
portion  south-west  of  Brody  and  half  of 
Bukovina,  was  lost  to  the  Russians. 

M.  Kerensky  was  looked  upon  as  the  only 
man  who  could  save  the  country,  the  dis- 
affection amongst  the  army  increasing,  and, 
being  attributed  to  German  intrigues  and  to 
the  anti-revolutionists  who  aimed  at  the 
return  of  the  Czar,  who  with  the  Czarina  had, 
on  the  15th  August,  been  sent  to  Tobolsk. 

Kerensky  was  totally  unknown  before  his 
swift  rise.  He  was  an  obscure  student  of  law, 
and  the  Revolution  gave  him  his  opportunity. 
He  has  a  magnetic  personality  and  a  com- 
mand over  the  masses,  and  enjoys  the  chance, 
if  he  can  deal  with  the  situation,  of  handing 
down  a  famous  name  to  posterity. 

He  succeeded  in  forming  a  cabinet  com- 
posed of  every  political  party  which  expressed 
confidence  in  him,  the  only  members  of  the 
old  Provisional  Government  being  M.  Terest- 
chenko  and  Professor  Nakrasoff. 

A  great  meeting  held  at  Moscow  terminated 
on  Wednesday,  August  29th.  Though  there 
were  many  disagreements  it  showed  the 
unanimous  desire  of  the  Conference  against  a 
separate  peace,  and  the  speakers  candidly 
proclaimed  their  views. 

On  September  3rd  Riga  was  taken  by  the 


KORNILOFF   DISMISSED       219 

Germans,  and  by  September  8th  they  had 
advanced  more  than  forty  miles  east  of  that 
place,  Petrograd  being  only  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant. 

At  this  time  Sturmer  died,  totally  unre- 
gretted.  He  was  denounced  by  M.  MihukoH 
as  being  the  Judas  of  Russia  ;  he  betrayed 
Roumania,  causing  her  to  fight  when  not 
ready,  and  then  refused  help,  trusting  that 
when  she  was  invaded  as  far  as  Sereth  a 
separate  peace  would  ensue. 

On  September  loth  Korniloff  demanded 
from  Kerensky  the  powers  of  a  dictator. 
Kerensky  then  dismissed  him  from  command, 
together  with  his  chief  of  staff  General 
Lukornsky,  and  appointed  General  Klem- 
bovsky  as  GeneraUssimo ;  Petrograd  was 
declared  in  a  state  of  siege  and  civilians 
advised  to  leave  the  city.  Korniloff  advanced 
with  an  army  against  Petrograd  and  arrived 
within  some  thirty  miles  of  it.  He  then  ap- 
peared to  be  collapsing,  and  General  Krisnoff, 
the  commander  of  his  troops,  shot  himself. 
Korniloff  was  arrested  on  the  i6th  September, 
and  Kerensky  himself  took  the  headship  of  the 
army,  appointing  General  Alexeieff  his  Chief 

of  Staff. 

Russia  was  proclaimed  a  Republic  and  a 
Council  of  five  appointed  :  viz.  Terestchenko, 


220 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


I 


Foreign  Minister  ;  Verkhovsky,  War  ;  Ver- 
derevsky,  Marine,  and  Kikitine,  Minister  of 
Posts. 

By  September  22nd  the  Germans  had 
captured  the  Dvina  Une  and  Jacobstadt,  and 
General  Alexeieff  retired  from  the  command. 

At  the  beginning  of  October  the  prospects 
looked  more  gloomy  still.  The  Soviet  or 
Workmen  and  Soldiers'  Council  began  plunder- 
ing the  public  funds  ;  famine,  induced  by  bad 
cultivation,  primitive  implements,  insufficient 
manure,  restricted  rotation  of  crops,  and  other 
contributory  causes,  stared  the  country  in  the 
face.  The  army  lost  disciphne  and  became 
useless  mobs.  What  next  happened  was  a 
struggle  between  Kerensky  and  the  Anar- 
chists, and  the  high  hopes  with  which  the 
Revolution  began  disappeared. 

In  the  middle  of  October  the  Germans  landed 
naval  forces,  supported  by  one  or  two  divi- 
sions, on  the  island  of  Osel,  and  Arenburg, 
its  chief  town,  was  in  flames.  The  next  place 
Hapsol,  on  the  coast  of  Esthonia,  is  only 
sixty  miles  from  Revel. 

The  19th  October  witnessed  a  naval  fight 
in  the  Gulf  of  Riga,  and  Moon  Island  was 
captured. 

This  concluded  the  important  fighting  with 
the  Germans. 


PLOTS  AGAINST  KERENSKY     221 

One  Lenin,  aUas  Cerderboum,  reported 
as  a  German  agent,  commenced  plotting 
against  Kerensky  as  early  as  July  last,  and 
fighting  took  place  in  November  between 
the  Maximalists  (Bolsheviks),  the  left  of  the 
Social  revolutionists,  and  the  Minimalists,  or 
Moderates,  which  lasted  about  a  week,  when 
the  latter  were  defeated,  as  was  an  attempt  of 
the  military  cadets  to  usurp  power.  Kerensky 
then  made  an  armed  attempt,  which  failed, 
ending  in  his  troops  making  terms  with  the 
Bolsheviks  and  he  taking  to  flight. 

Lenin  then  became  Premier  of  the  Work- 
men's Government,  with  Trotsky  as  his 
Foreign  Minister. 

Kaledin,  the  Cossack  Hetman,  had  the 
control  of  the  food  supplies  and  declared 
war  upon  the  Bolsheviks  at  Novo-Tcherback, 
Karkoff  being  in  his  hands,  and  Moscow  being 
cut  off  from  South  Russia.  Little  is  known 
of  Kaledin  except  that  he  was  a  good  leader. 
In  Brusiloff's  ofl[ensive  in  Volhynia  he  was 
one  of  his  most  trusted  commanders. 

Meanwhile  the  army  deserted  in  large 
numbers,  and  Brusiloff  himself  was  reported 
to  be  lying  wounded  at  Moscow. 

As  early  as  November  came  rumours  of  an 
armistice  with  Germany.  By  Decenaber  3rd 
local  armistices  were  akeady  in  force  in  many 


>  Mbwi^    I—    *M 


233 


ii 


ill' 


'nlw 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


sectors,  and  the  Russian  army  from  Pripet  to 
the  south  of  the  Lipa  (a  distance  of  some 
200  miles)  had  decided  on  a  truce,  and  peace 
pourparlers  were  commenced  between  the 
Maximalists  and  Germany.  Ukrainian  sol- 
diers in  numbers  left  the  front. 

Hostilities  were  suspended  by  December 
8th.  General  Tcherbatchieff  (commanding 
the  Russo-Roumanian  forces)  could  not  keep 
his  troops  together  and  so  the  Roumanians 
were  forced  into  the  truce.  Trotsky  then  sent 
an  insolent  note  to  the  Allies  at  the  instance 
of  the  Bolshevik  traitors  at  Petrograd,  asking 
them  to  disclose  their  aims. 

On  the  I2th  December,  news  to  hand 
averred  that  Korniloff  with  4000  men  was 
fighting  the  Leninists  at  Tautarovno. 

On  the  22nd  December  it  was  stated  that 
General  Kaledin  gained  a  substantial  victory 
and  General  Tcherbatchieff,  commander-in- 
chief  on  the  Roumanian  front,  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  a  similar  position  in  Ukraine,  and 
also  that  the  Maximalists  had  dispersed  the 
military  Rada  at  Pakoff,  representing  over 
200,000  Ukrainian  troops. 

The  Ukraine,  however,  an  immense  territory 
to  the  south-west  of  Russia,  was  about  the 
first  to  make  peace  with  Germany. 

At  the  time  we  go  to  press  there  is  no 
Russian  army.    The  bulk  of  the  troops  have 


PERFIDY   TO   ALLIES 


223 


deserted  and  gone  home.  The  Bolsheviks 
have  made  peace,  declaring  the}^  will  not  fight 
the  Germans,  who  are  composed  mainly  of  the 
peasant  class,  with  whom  they  have  no  quarrel, 
and  Trotsky  at  Brest-Litovsk  has  been  heard 
to  state  that  the  war  is  at  an  end. 

The  execrable  conduct  of  Russia  as  repre- 
sented by  those  now  in  power  cannot  be  too 
severely  censured. 

Russia  has  proved  faithless  as  an  ally,  has 
done  incalculable  harm  to  the  allied  cause  by 
allowing  German  armies  in  the  East  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  West,  forgetting  she  is  the  cause 
of  the  World  War  by  mobilising  in  aid  of 
Servia,  and  oblivious  of  the  assistance  in 
munitions  and  in  money  we  have  rendered  her. 
Even  before  the  Empire's  fall  there  were 
clandestine  overtures  by  many  of  those  in 
power  with  the  joint  enemy,  and  the  dastardly 
Rasputin  was  in  high  favour,  and  finally  the 
events  of  the  last  few  weeks  show  themselves 
as  the  vilest  epoch  in  Russian  history,  and 
point  to  her  extinction  as  a  great  power. 

CONCLUDING   REMARKS   ON    THE 
EXISTING  SITUATION 

April,  1918. 
Such  is  the  state  of  things  existing  at  the 
time  the  latest  portion  of  this  work  finally 
leaves  our  hands. 


i« 


224  RUSSIA'S   STORY 

The  Bolsheviks,  professing  to  act  for  the 
whole  Russian  nation,  having  made  peace  with 
Germany,  the  Russian  army  has  been  entirely 
disbanded,  and  thousands  and  thousands  of 
German  prisoners  in  Russia  have  been  re- 
leased, and  have  now  joined  the  German 
armies  fighting  in  the  West.  There  has  been 
but  little  news  relating  to  Russia  for  some 
days.  Things  externally  seem  quiet  there,  but 
no  doubt  bloodshed  and  anarchy  are  continu- 
ing. The  enormous  amount  of  munitions  and 
supplies,  not  to  speak  of  money  which  the 
EngUsh  have  so  liberally  supplied  to  Russia, 
are  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans.  Japanese 
intervention  for  the  protection  of  Siberia  is 
being  discussed,  but  the  Japanese  Government 
have  not  made  up  their  minds. 

To  conclude,  the  conduct  of  Russia  appears 
dastardly  beyond  description,  the  only  excuse 
for  their  villainy  being  that  this  governing 
body,  which  professes  to  represent  the  nation, 
does  not  really  do  so.  They  have  betrayed 
the  allied  cause,  which  they  are  now  injuring 
to  the  utmost  in  their  power.  The  bulk  of  the 
people  seem  to  be  paralysed,  and  history 
affords  no  precedent  of  such  a  complete  down- 
fall of  a  great  people  and  wreck  of  a  once  great 
power. 


INDEX 


Alexander   I,  115 

Napoleon,  War  with,  1 16-21 
Treaty  of  Tilsit,  ii8~20 

Alexander  II,  137 
Internal  reforms,  141 
Abolishes  "  serfdom,"  138 
Insurrection  in  Poland,  139 
Subdues  the  Caucasus,  141 
Advances  towards  India,  142 
War  with  Turkey  (1877),  M4 
Assassination  of,  147 

Alexander  III,  1 47 

Alexis,  56 

Heir  to  Peter  the  Great,  88 

Anastasia(firstwifeof  Ivan  IV), 

38 
Andrew,  son  of  Igor,  20 

Anne  I,  91 

Appanages,  the,  19 

Armed  neutrality  of  1780,  loi 

113 

Army  :   Standing  Army  com- 
menced, 41 

Ascold,  5 

Austerlitz,  Battle  of,  117 

Azov,  Siege  of,  67 

Balkan  Wars,  165-7 

Basil  the  Blind,  31 

Bati,  24 

Berlin  taken,  94 

Boris   Godunof  (made  Czar), 

47-9 
Bulgarian  atrocities,  144 

Bulgarians     driven     out     of 
Dacia,  2 


Calendar  regulated,  70 
Cassimer,    John,    and    Poles 

attacked  by  Russians  and 

Tartars,  57 
Catherine  I,  89 
Catherine    II     (the     Great), 

96 
Her  favourites,   102 

Partition  of  Poland,  99 
War  with  Turkey,  99 
Journey    to    the     Crimea, 

103 
Character  and  death,  104 
Charles  XII   of   Sweden  in- 
vades Russia,  78 
Coalitions  against  Napoleon, 

117,  121 
Constantinople,    First     expe- 
dition against,  5 
Second  expedition,  6 
Fall  of,  32 
Constitution,  a  written,  1 5 
Cossacks,  the,  56 
Crimea  seized,  99 
Crimean  War,  135 

Demetrius  DonsLoi,  29 

Field  of  Woodcocks,  25 
Derivation      of      the      term 

"Russians,"  3 
Dissensions  at  home,  158 
Duma,  First,  159,  160 

Second,  160 

Third,  160 

Fourth,  162 


225 


226 


RUSSIA'S   STORY 


Elizabeth,  93 

England,  First  communication 

with,  40 
Eudoxia,   wife   of    Peter    the 

Great,  88 

Feodor  I  (last  monarch  of  the 

Varingian  line),  47 
Feodor  II,  51 
Feodor  III,  60 
Feudatories,    Wars    of    the, 

19 
France,  War  with,  109 

Frederick  the  Great,  War  with, 

93 
Friedland,  Battle  of,  118 

Galatzin,  62 
Genghis  Khan,   25 
Germany,    Agreement     with, 

64 
Golden  Horde,  26 

Hungarian     rebellion     under 
Kossuth,  134 

Ignatieffdied,  160 

Igor,  7 

Ivan  I  ("The  Purse"),  27 

Ivan    II    (prince    of  all   the 

Russias),  28 
Ivan  III  (the  Great),  33 

Tartars  finally  expelled,  33 
Ivan  IV  (the  Terrible),  38 

Assumes  the  title  of  Czar. 

38 

His  atrocities,  43 

Kills  his  son,  45 
Ivan  V,  61 

Ivan  VI.,  Antonovitch,  92 
Iziaslav,  17 

Japan,  War  with,  153-7 
Jaroslav    (brother    of    Yury), 
25 


Jaroslav  (the  Wise),  14 

Makes  Kief  magnificent,  15 
Gives  code  of  laws,  15-16 
^Var  against  the  Greeks,  17 
Divideshis  kingdom  amongst 

his  six  sons,  17 
The      country     progresses 

under,  17 

Kief  annexed,  6 
Becomes  powerful,  1 5 
Loses  importance,  19 
Becomes     dependency     of 

Sugdal,  19 
Pillaged,  19 

Kremlin  built,  28 

Ladislaus    seizes  the  throne, 

52 
Laws,  First  code  of,  1 5 
Lettres  de  Cachet  System,  94 

Merv  taken,  148 

Michael,  52 
House  of  Romanoff,  52 
Written  Constitution,  54 

Minsk,  Nuns  of,  131 

Mongols,  25 

Moscow  becomes  the  capital, 
27 

Narva  taken  by  Peter,  75 

Napoleon,  War  with,  109-123 

Nicholas  I,  127 
Plot  against,  127 
War  with  Persia,  128 
War  with  Turkey,  128 
Rebellion  in  Poland,  130 
Visits  England,  134 
Crimean  War,  135 

Nicholas  II,  152 

Marries    Princess    Alix    of 

Hesse,  152 
War  with  Japan,  153 
Japanese  successes,  154 


INDEX 


227 


Nicholas  II— 152 

Port  Arthur  surrenders,  157 
Baltic  Fleet  fires  on  English 

fishing  boats,  156 
Treaty  of  Portsmouth,  U.S., 

157 
^s  Disturbances  in  Russia,  158 

Deposed,  210 

Sent  to  Tobolsk,  218 

Nicon,  patriarch,  58 

Novgorod   incorporated   with 
the  Empire,  33 
Pillaged  by  Ivan,  43 

Oleg,  7 
Olga,  8 

Opritshniks  formed,  41 
Origin  of  the  Russians,  i 
Orloff,  favourite  of  Catherine, 
103 

Partition  of  Poland,  99 

Paul,  106 
War  with  Napoleon,  109 
Death  of,  114 
His  character,  107 

Penjdeh  affair,  148 

Period  of  the  Appanages,  19 

Perislav,  Battle  at,  9 

Peter  I  (the  Great),  63 
Begins  shipbuilding,  64 
Foundation  of  St.    Peters- 
burg, 73 
Fall  of  Narva,  75 
Assists  the  Poles,  76 
Fights  the  Turks,  85 
Plot  against,  69 
Sie^e  of  Azov,  67 
Visits  England,  69 
Home  Reforms  by,  70 
War  with  Sweden  by,  7 1 
Results  of  Battle  of  Pultova, 
80 

Peter  II,  90 

Peter  111,95 

Poland,  Partition  of,  99 


Poles  besiege  Moscow,  52 
Postal  service  instituted,  58 
Pultova,  Battle  of,  80 

Revolution,  the,  198 
Romanoff,  House  of,  52 
Rurik,  3 
Ruskaya  Pravda,  15 

St.  Petersburg  founded,  73 

Serfdom,  5 

Servia,  History  of,  161 

Nationalist    movement    in, 

171 
Austria    declares    war    on, 
172 
Siberia  acquired,  46 
Simeon  (the  proud),  28 
Sirbir,gave  its  name  to  Siberia, 

46 
Stolypin  shot,  163 
Suwarof's  victories,  no 
Svatoslaf,  9 
Enters  Bulgaria,  9 
War    against    the    Greeks, 

9,  10 
His  character,  11 
Last   of  the   Pagan  Kings, 
9-1 1 
Sviatopolk,  the  Miserable  or 
the  Accursed,  13 
Seizure  of  Kief,  6 

Tamberline's  invasion,  30 
Tartar,  last  invasion,  34 
Tartars  expelled,  35 
Treaty  of  London,  137 
Treaty  of  Paris,  137 
Treaty  of  Tilsit,  118,  120 
Treaty  of  Unkiar  Skelezzi,  134 

Vassili  I,  30 

Vassili  II  (the  Blind),  31 

Vassili  III,  37 

Smolensk  added  to  Russia, 

37 


} 


228 


RUSSIA'S    STORY 


Vladimir  the  Great,  12 
Galicia     or     Red     Russia 

founded,  12 
Monomachus,  18 
Weds    Githa,  daughter    of 
Harold,  18 

War,  the  Great,  168  et  seq. 
Origin,  169 

State  of  Russia  at  commence- 
ment of,  170 
War  declared  by  Germany 

on  Russia,  174 
England   declares    war   on 

Germany,  I75 
Russian  successes,  170 
Reverse  at  Tannenburg,  176 
St.  Petersburg  changed  to 

Petrograd,  176 
No  separate  peace  between 

Allies,  176 
Drink  prohibition,  i77 
Defeats  of  Austrians,  177 
Przemysl  taken,  178 

„        retaken,  184 
Lemberg  taken,  I77 
Advances  in  Galicia,  I77 


War,  the  Great— 168  et  seq. 
Summary  of  events  of  19  Mi 

180 
Summary  of  events  of  I9»5f 

182 
German  great  offensive,  183 
Successes  in  1916,  188 
Erzeroum    and    Trebizond 

taken,  188,   189 
Assists  Roumania,  191 
Roumanian  reverses,  193 
Czar's  manifesto,  193-7 
Details  of  the  Revolution, 

199 
Deposition  of  the  Czar,  210 
Kerensky  forms  a  Cabinet, 

218 
Kerensky  deposed,  218 
Wars  between  feudatories,  19 


Yermak,  46 
Yury,  or  George,  35 
(half-witted      brother 
Ivan  IV),  37 


to 


Zoe,  Princess,  34 
„    name  changed  to  Sophia, 

34 


11     i 


PKINTBD  BY   WILLIAM    BRENDON   AND  SON,   I TD 
PLYMOUTH,  BNGLAND 


ii 


Shearwood 

Russia's  story 

34-7 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 


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